After a legal standoff, the lawyers in charge of the defense of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, had succeeded in obtaining restricted access to social networks for him. The decision did not involve the use of a virtual private network (VPN) service that the ex-crypto mogul appears to have used.
Is this ban on SBF logical?
While he had already seen his rights to access social networks limited, the ex-boss of FTX has just received a new sanction. Wednesday, February 15, Lewis Kaplan, a federal judge, ordered to Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), with immediate effect, to no longer use any VPN service to access the Internet. The decision follows a motion filed by prosecutors, who suspect SBF of using a VPN service to communicate.
“The defendant unquestionably used a virtual private network, at least twice to access the Internet during his release, and at least once since the court ordered him to refrain from using any calling or encrypted or ephemeral messaging, observed the judge in his order, before making the decision.
This new measure is linked to the recent ban on the former business manager. This notably refused him the right to use certain social networks such as Signal and the encryption features they offer.
We understand that faced with this measure, the use of a VPN service was obviously an effective option for SBF. A parade that he did not prevent himself from using, probably considering that the use of such a process could not be illegal. In the end, this is not the judge’s interpretation of this approach.
Just more of the same ?
If SBF receives a new ban, it is because the court considers that a VPN, like an encrypted or ephemeral call or messaging service, contributes to the same objective which is to hide information.
For the judge, the use of a VPN by Bankman-Fried involves “many of the same risks associated with using encrypted messaging and ephemeral messaging apps”.
The vice seems to be tightening on SBF who did not fail to emphasize that all his maneuvers are only intended to find solutions “constructive”. The least we can say is that the suspense in the FTX affair is far from over.
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