Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, should face between 40-50 years behind bars, prosecutors have said.

The former crypto golden child was found guilty on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in November.

Prosecutors on Friday said that Bankman-Fried, who has consistently pled not-guilty to all charges levied against him, should spend up to 50 years in prison and forfeit $11 billion to account for investor losses.

In a sentencing memorandum, prosecutors wrote: "Even now Bankman-Fried refuses to admit what he did was wrong," prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. His life in recent years has been one of unmatched greed and hubris; of ambition and rationalisation; and courting risk and gambling repeatedly with other people's money."

Marc Mukasey, the lawyer for Bankman-Fried, has said that a 5-1/4 to 6-1/2 year prison term would be appropriate and that FTX’s clients would get most of their money back. Bankman-Fried, they said, did not set out to steal from investors.

Prosecutors however said that Bankman-Fried’s privileged upbringing, Massachusetts Institute of Technology education and professional experience on Wall Street indicate that he knew what he was doing was wrong. They wrote: "He knew what society deemed illegal and unethical, but disregarded that based on a pernicious megalomania guided by the defendant's own values and sense of superiority.”

A run on FTX led the exchange to declare bankruptcy in November 2022, following reports that Bankman-Fried misappropriated customer funds to prop up his Alameda Research hedge fund and to live a luxury lifestyle. Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 in the Bahamas and subsequently extradited to the US.

He had his parole revoked and has been in jail since August 2023 when a judge found it likely that he had tampered with witnesses.

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