Ex-Alameda CEO won’t be spending the holidays in federal prison

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research who pleaded guilty to charges related to her role in the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been transferred out of the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Danbury, Connecticut, where she spent the past few months serving her two-year sentence. 

According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records as of Wednesday, Ellison was located at a Residential Reentry Management field office in New York City, marking the first change in housing since she reported to FCI Danbury in November 2024.

The former Alameda CEO received a two-year sentence for her role in FTX’s downfall — one of the lighter sentences compared to that of the exchange’s CEO, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years. 

Source: Federal Bureau of Prisons

Prison officials reportedly transferred Ellison on Oct. 16, but did not disclose the reason for the move. According to the Federal Bureau of Prisons, she is scheduled to be released on Feb. 20, about nine months before the end of her sentence. The reason for the early release was unclear at the time of publication.

Ellison, along with Bankman-Fried and others, was indicted as part of a high-profile criminal case involving the collapse of FTX in November 2022. Unlike the former FTX CEO, she and two of her colleagues pleaded guilty to charges and testified at Bankman-Fried’s trial.

Another individual indicted in the debacle, former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, accepted a plea deal, did not testify and was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison.

Related: Silvergate Bank lawsuit calls for FTX, Alameda clients to weigh in on $10M settlement

Who is Caroline Ellison?

A native of Boston, Ellison met SBF while both were working at the Jane Street trading firm in 2016. At Bankman-Fried’s invitation, she joined Alameda in 2017, rising to become co-CEO with Sam Trabucco and then the company’s sole CEO in August 2022 following his departure.

When FTX collapsed in November 2022, Ellison, Bankman-Fried and others were indicted on charges of fraud and money laundering. The former Alameda CEO largely stayed out of the public spotlight, in contrast to Bankman-Fried, who initially kept posting to social media after his arrest.

When Bankman-Fried was extradited to the US from the Bahamas, where FTX’s headquarters were located, he was initially allowed to remain in his parents’ California home, subject to travel restrictions. However, a judge revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail in August 2023 after Bankman-Fried allegedly leaked parts of Ellison’s diary to The New York Times.

Following that incident, Ellison’s whereabouts were unknown to the public until she appeared in court to testify against SBF during his October 2023 trial. According to reporting from the courtroom, she placed the blame for the misuse of FTX user funds directly on Bankman-Fried, claiming he “set up the systems” that led to Alameda taking $14 billion from the company.

Subject to public scrutiny, mocked online

Next to Bankman-Fried, Ellison was arguably the most prominent public figure associated with the FTX debacle. She was widely criticized in the crypto community for her role in the exchange’s collapse, as well as her relationship with SBF, whom she briefly dated.

“While public scrutiny of a criminal defendant’s or cooperator’s criminal misconduct is understandable, Ellison endured far more than that,” said prosecutors in a September 2024 sentencing recommendation. “She was mobbed outside the courthouse for comment and photographs, making it difficult to enter and exit without an escort, her physical appearance was scrutinized and criticized, and she was mocked in memes and other content on social media.”

With her pending release from federal custody, Ellison’s time with FTX and Bankman-Fried will likely be put into the spotlight yet again with the anticipated release of “The Altruists,” a Netflix series exploring SBF’s and Ellison’s lives amid the exchange’s collapse. Actress Julia Garner will portray Ellison in the miniseries.

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