Former FTX CEO's Bail Conditions Revisited: Monitoring Software Proposal Emerges In Criminal Case

A New York judge overseeing the criminal case of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has requested a new proposal from the defendant's lawyers to modify his bail conditions. 

The proposal suggests the installation of an application on Bankman-Fried's phone to automatically record and archive his communications, according to a report from Coindesk. 

The move comes after nearly two weeks of disagreement between federal prosecutors and Bankman-Fried's lawyers over the defendant's bail conditions.

The initial issues arose when prosecutors submitted a letter alleging Bankman-Fried had attempted to contact a potential witness in the case and had impeded discovery by using self-deleting messaging applications.

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U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan tentatively agreed to modify the bail conditions, but Bankman-Fried's attorney pushed back, arguing the defendant needed to communicate with current and former employees for personal support.

The two sides reached an agreement on a list of acceptable employees and apps for communication, but Kaplan rejected the proposal the next day.

During a recent hearing, Kaplan expressed concern about Bankman-Fried's ability to encrypt his messages, leading to the proposal for monitoring software.

"We're being shortsighted to focus on apps ... don't you think this defendant is bright enough to encrypt something without a computer?"

The lead prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, said: "To the extent that the defendant decides to communicate via handwritten code ... that's not really something we're worried about."

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