U.S. Government Raises Concerns as SBF Uses the Internet Through VPN

The United States government has discovered that Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, used the internet through a virtual private network (VPN) despite bail terms.

A virtual private network (VPN) is a service that allows anyone to use the internet privately without being traced. This way, no third party has details about the websites visited or data transmitted online.

SBF Uses VPN to Surf the Internet

A letter submitted by U.S. prosecutors over SBF’s case to Judge Lewis Kaplan revealed that the FTX founder used the internet via a VPN on two occasions. Both occurred on January 29, 2023, and February 12, 2023.

The government unraveled the matter through a pen register integrated with SBF’s Gmail account. A pen register is a device that enables the monitoring of internet communications.

U.S. prosecutors outlined several reasons why they believe the court should review SBF’s bail conditions concerning VPN usage. One of them is that the disgraced FTX boss can use VPNs to interact with crypto exchanges that block access to U.S. residents. 

Another worry is that SBF could access the dark web from his parent’s home in California. Recall that the disgraced FTX founder has been on house arrest for over a month after pleading not guilty to criminal charges against him.

The prosecutors have requested that the matter be addressed on February 17, 2023.

SBF’s Lawyer Responds

A day after U.S. prosecutors submitted their letter to Judge Kaplan, SBF’s attorney, Mark Cohen, shared details of Bankman-Fried’s browsing history on the two occasions cited.

Cohen wrote in a letter to Judge Kaplan that SBF had used the VPN to access a game pass international subscription he purchased while in the Bahamas. On January 29, Bankman-Fried used the VPN to watch the game between the American Football Conference and the National Football Conference.

On February 12, he used a private internet service to watch the Super Bowl. 

In the latter part of his letter, Cohen noted that he agreed with the U.S. prosecutors about looking into the matter on February 17.