Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison sentenced to 24 months in prison

Ellison’s Tuesday sentencing comes months after Sam Bankman-Fried was handed a 25-year sentence

article-image

Daenin/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison has been sentenced to 24 months in prison for her role in the collapse of the former crypto exchange FTX. 

She will also serve three years of supervised release at the conclusion of her prison sentence. 

Despite Ellison’s “remarkable” contributions to the government’s case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, this was an “outrageous fraud,” Judge Lewis Kaplan said Tuesday. 

“There’s no way you’ll ever do something like this again, I’m convinced,” Kaplan told Ellison before handing down the sentence. “[But,] to be literally a ‘get out of jail free card’ is not something I can find my way to.”

Ellison’s parents and two sisters were present in court. A SDNY Marshal handed out tissues to the family at the end of the hearing. Ellison had no visible reaction when receiving the sentence, but did cry at points during her personal statement to the court.

Ellison thanked her family and other supporters, specifically mentioning her partner, who did not appear to be present. 

“Whatever happens here today, I will spend the rest of my life trying to be worthy of it,” Ellison said of the support she has received.

The prison sentence is far below the maximum 110 years her charges carry. Her “extraordinary cooperation” with prosecutors during and ahead of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial warrants no jail time, her attorneys said. 

Ellison’s role in the crimes was a result of her “warped” moral sense due to Bankman-Fried’s influence, her team added. 

Judge Kaplan agreed, saying Tuesday that Bankman-Fried appeared to have been Ellison’s “kryptonite.” 

“You’re a very strong person, Ms. Ellison, in a lot of ways,” Kaplan said. “It’s hard for me to understand [Bankman-Fried’s hold on you].”

Read more: Former FTX execs, government witnesses to be sentenced this fall

“Bankman-Fried convinced her to stay, telling her she was essential to the survival of the business, and that he loved her,” her attorneys wrote in their sentencing memo. 

At the same time, Bankman-Fried was “perversely demonstrating that he considered her not good enough to be seen in public with him at high-profile events,” the memo added.

During and ahead of the trial, Ellison’s cooperation was invaluable, the prosecution said, a stark contrast to the performance Bankman-Fried gave the jury during his own testimony. 

“Unlike Mr. Bankman-Fried, she is not cunning,” lead prosecutor Danielle Sasson said, adding that Ellison was not motivated by “greed.”

Ahead of the sentencing, bettors on Polymarket speculated how much time the former Alameda executive would receive. The $930,000 market was leaning towards no prison time earlier Tuesday.

In 2022, Ellison pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

She emerged as a star witness during Bankman-Fried’s trial, telling the jury that Alameda, at Bankman-Fried’s direction, borrowed from FTX for “whatever we needed.” 

Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

He has since appealed the conviction, alleging that the presiding judge unfairly prevented the defense from presenting certain evidence to the jury. 

Katherine Ross contributed reporting.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Upcoming Events

Brooklyn, NY

SUN - MON, JUN. 22 - 23, 2025

Blockworks and Cracked Labs are teaming up for the third installment of the Permissionless Hackathon, happening June 22–23, 2025 in Brooklyn, NY. This is a 36-hour IRL builder sprint where developers, designers, and creatives ship real projects solving real problems across […]

Industry City | Brooklyn, NY

TUES - THURS, JUNE 24 - 26, 2025

Permissionless IV serves as the definitive gathering for crypto’s technical founders, developers, and builders to come together and create the future.If you’re ready to shape the future of crypto, Permissionless IV is where it happens.

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.png

Research

Despite ending its points program, Hyperliquid has maintained a dominant market position with 77% of perpetuals DEX volumes, though overall volume has decreased from early 2025. It is the only DEX that has been able to compete with CEX volumes. Hyperliquid's success stems primarily from rapid, relevant token listings and superior UX for users and market makers, particularly its API - which is how market makers interact with the protocol. The controversial oracle price override during the JELLY incident exposed risks in the Hyperliquid Liquidity Pool (HLP), though the team has since implemented risk management adjustments. The HyperEVM is currently underoptimized and lacks necessary precompiles, but represents an important strategic expansion to enable asset issuance and DeFi composability.

article-image

Securitize announced it acquired a crypto-focused fund administration firm

article-image

ETH’s success hinges on the resource of data availability, particularly how much it sells to L2s

article-image

Solayer’s Emerald Card integrates SolanaID so users can build their “onchain reputation.”

article-image

In 2011, bitcoin blew past the one-dollar event horizon and never looked back

article-image

Sponsored

Transferability of WCT brings the onchain economy closer to a more open, permissionless, and community-driven experience

article-image

Taking a look at the biggest stablecoin players and where they stand