Cryptocurrency has captivated ambitious, bold, and risk takers. But how many ambitions are there?
For some of the industry’s biggest names, the quest for domination led them from luxury to legal trouble, followed by a rapid rise and equally swift downfall. Their stories now seem to have failed warning tales of ambition. So let’s take a look at the autumn of the three code kings here:
Sam Bank Manfried
Sam Bank Man Fried, or SBF, was once considered a modern-day JP Morgan. At his peak he lived in a $30 million Bahamas penthouse, estimated to be worth $26.5 billion. But today, Bankmanfried finds himself spending his time at a low-security federal prison in San Pedro, California.
SBF was born on March 6, 1992. He graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) with a degree in physics and a minor in mathematics. In 2014 he joined Jane Street Capital, a quantitative trading company, focusing on arbitrage trading, particularly with exchange trading funds (ETFs). Three years later, he left the office, dipping his toes into code.
He started by buying Bitcoin in the US and selling it for profit in the Asian market. In September 2017, he founded Alameda Research and recruited a small team.
In 2019, SBF launched the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, transforming it into a global powerhouse within two years. By 2021, FTX had moved to the Bahamas and Fried, the Bank, was a billionaire.
“As of 11:30am on Thursday, he is America’s 25th richest person and the 64th wealthiest person in the world. Only Mark Zuckerberg, who hit $28.5 billion at the age of 29, was rich in this young age,” Forbes wrote on October 21, 2021.
The façade collapsed in November 2022, when FTX filed for bankruptcy. It has been discovered that an estimated $8.7 billion in customer funds are missing.
FTX has been found to violate the fundamental principles of financial security and transparency by using customer deposits on risky bets through its sister company Alameda Research.
In December 2022, local authorities arrested Crypto King Bankman Fried at his Bahamas penthouse and handed him over to the United States. In January 2023, Bankmanfried entered a plea of ​​ignorance to the accusation.
However, on March 28, 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for seven fraud and conspiracy.
“Samuel Bankmanfried, also known as SBF (32), of Stanford, California, was sentenced to 25 years of prison-supervised release today and ordered $11 billion forfeiture for multiple fraud scheme orchestrations,” the DOJ said.
Despite their certainty, there is no hope that SBF will go outside. In 2025, King Crypto once began sue President Trump for pardon. This was very ironic considering that the SBF was the second-largest donor to the Democrats in the 2020 election.
No efforts to pardon have yet to arise. Nevertheless, Business Insider revealed earlier this week that SBF could be released from prison in December 2044.
“While BOP has not commented on the conditions for confinement of certain prisoners, a spokesman told Business Insider that release dates will be calculated by predicting “good time to act.” Those eligible to serve in prison are eligible to earn 54 days each year of their sentence,” the article read.
Aiden Pretersky
Aiden Pretersky, 26, from Ontario, Canada, has made a notorious name for himself as the self-proclaimed “Cryptoking.” He began his high school code journey, trading video game perks for digital coins.
By 2020, Preterski was deep. By 2021, he had upgraded to a multi-million dollar home in Burlington, Ontario. His parents also chipped at CAD 50,000 and in return got a luxury car, informing him of his early success.
“Petersky gave his parents the benefits of investment, they said, in addition to the luxurious gifts, as well as the McLaren 60LT and BMW M8 for his father, Louis Vuitton bags and Burberry coats for his mother, and the 2017 Bentley Bentayga for the couple’s wedding anniversary.”
Preterski is big and noisy. His Instagram flaunted a garage full of private jets, exotic getaways and gorgeous cars. It was a teenage dream that became a billionaire fantasy.
Between 2021 and 2022, Pleterski and his company, AP Private Equity Ltd., reportedly raised CAD 41.5 million ($30.5 million) from investors by pledging high returns through cryptocurrency and forex investments.
The problem began to arise in 2022 when the lawsuit accused him of diverting funds. The Ontario Superior Court frozen his assets in July and declared that by August he and his company had gone bankrupt.
According to reports, Pleterski only invests around 1.6% of its investor capital. Meanwhile, he is said to have spent at least 16 million people on luxury cars, private jet trips and mansions on Lake Front.
Then came a shocking shift in the event. In December 2022, he was reportedly lured and detained for ransom for several days. It is said that Pretersky was beaten and tortured during this time. Furthermore, his prisoners demanded a ransom of three million people from his landlord.
CBC has obtained the Pleterski video and appears to be apologizing for being hurt. Pretersky’s father testified that his son was released after he immediately provided the money to the temptier and agreed not to involve the police.
“He was taken. They basically hugged him for about three days, driving him around different areas of various parts of southern Ontario, beat him, torture him, allowing him to make certain calls only to certain people. I was not one of the people he was allowed to contact.”
On May 14, 2024, police arrested Preterski on fraud charges. However, his parents posted a CAD 100,000 bail and released him.
“Mr. Pretersky was charged with one count of fraud over $5,000 against section 380(1)(a) of the Criminal Code and one count of laundry revenue from a Canadian crime against section 462.31(1)(a) of the Criminal Code, wrote the Ontario Securities Commission.
Crypto King faces up to 14 years in prison if convicted.
Alex Machineski
Alex Mashinsky was a serial entrepreneur who founded the Celsius Network in 2017. It was a digital asset borrowing and lending platform. He cultivated quite a few images on the “Banks is not your friend” t-shirt and “Ask Machine Skiing Something” YouTube stream.
During the pandemic, Celsius gained popularity by offering loans and high interest rates on crypto deposits. Machine Ski touted Celsius as an alternative to banks that benefit users.
“I personally have over $160 million worth of assets right next to celsius. So if you have bitcoin, I have bitcoin right next to you and get exactly the same amount of interest. I earn 6%.
By March 2021, Celsius was over $10 billion in digital assets. However, the rise stopped in 2022. In April, Celsius announced that it would detain coins from non-certified investors and halt new deposits and compensation.
The situation worsened with Teralna’s collapse, exacerbating the issue of overall market sales and liquidity in Celsius. In June, the company suspended its withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy in July. Court filings revealed that Celsius had a $1.2 billion hole in the balance sheet.
In September, Maski resigned as CEO. Additionally, a financial statement filed by celsius showed that it had withdrawn $10 million from the company in May 2022.
He faced a series of charges from the US government, the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, as well as lawsuits from New York Attorney General Letitia James.
In July 2023, Maskie was arrested and charged with seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and market manipulation. In December 2024, he pleaded guilty to two counts.
On May 8, 2025, he was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Additionally, the court ordered machine skis to confiscate $48.39 million.
“Alexander Masky actually made risky bets and used those assets to line up his pockets, and while Machinesky ultimately made billions of dollars, his client investors deserved better.
Therefore, these sagas reveal the double-edged swords of cryptocurrency. With a massive downfall, these Crypto Kings remind us that in the race for wealth, abandoned in can be equally faster.
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