Gary Wang, former CTO and co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has petitioned a US federal judge to waive his prison term. Wang’s appeal to a Manhattan court emphasizes his significant assistance in the fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried, a longtime friend and FTX co-founder. Wang claims that his help was critical to the government’s case, resulting in Bankman-Fried’s conviction and 25-year prison sentence.
Wang, who is awaiting his sentence on November 20, asserts that his involvement in the FTX affair paled in comparison to those of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and Nishad Singh, an FTX engineering officer. Both Ellison and Singh pleaded guilty and cooperated with prosecutors, with Ellison receiving a two-year term and Singh avoiding jail time entirely. Wang’s lawyers contend that incarcerating him would result in an “unwarranted sentencing disparity” and fail to represent his relatively minor role in the crime, especially given his assertion that Bankman-Fried misled him about the FTX misappropriations.
Wang testified during Bankman-Fried’s trial that he received instructions to alter FTX’s code, which facilitated Alameda Research’s access to customer funds, thereby fueling the alleged fraud. Wang alleges that he only became aware of the extent of the fund misappropriation after it had already begun. Since then, he has actively engaged with authorities and supplied important information about FTX’s inner workings.
Wang’s memo also discusses his personal situation. He currently works as a software engineer and is expecting his first child with his wife, whom he recently married. He aspires to continue supporting his family while also contributing to ongoing government efforts to uncover fraud threats on cryptocurrency exchanges.
Wang’s collaboration goes beyond testimony; he has been building software to detect financial fraud for government authorities, with ambitions to help monitor crypto-related crimes. His lawyers underlined Wang’s commitment to assisting victims in recovering money and preventing similar events in the future.
