The collapse of FTX had a significant influence on the market as a whole. After Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was taken into custody, justice was partially done. He was nonetheless given a huge $250 million bond and is now under home arrest. His parents were guarantors of this bond, but the identities of the other two remained secret. In the future, though, it might alter quickly. US District Judge Lewis Kaplan reportedly ordered that information on these people can be made public.
After threats were made against SBF’s parents, these people’s identities were kept a secret. Not only that. The likelihood that the two could face “harassment” and “media attention” while having no link to the FTX case was emphasized. Judge Kaplan, however, said,
“The information at issue is entitled only to weak presumption of access, yet the countervailing factors are not sufficiently persuasive to overcome even that presumption.”
It should be mentioned that the Judge thinks the arguments on both sides didn’t carry much weight. He nevertheless proceeded with the applications “for the limited purpose of asserting the public’s claimed right of access” to the names of SBF’s guarantors.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan delayed the order’s effect until February 7 to allow for an appeal.
Furthermore, a number of media outlets, including the Associated Press, Bloomberg, CNBC, Dow Jones, The Financial Times, Insider, and the Washington Post, wrote Judge Kaplan a letter about the matter in the past. The lawyers for these media companies added,
“…the public’s right to know Bankman-Fried’s guarantors outweighed their privacy and safety rights.”
SBF’s Friends In Need Turned Friends Indeed
The majority of the community made the assumption that it was Kevin O’Leary from Shark Tank. After the incident, “Mr. Wonderful” repeatedly defended SBF in front of the public. During the same time period, O’Leary also criticized Binance, a competing exchange. Therefore, despite suffering a $15 million loss, some people speculated that he might be one of them.
The name of American billionaire investor Bill Ackman also came up because he had previously backed SBF throughout the decline. The community also humorously speculated that SEC Chairman Gary Gensler might be one of them in addition to these identities.