Carolyn Ellison was released early. She served only 60% of the two years she was sentenced to. The former head of Alameda Research cooperated with the authorities and pleaded guilty, thus receiving a lenient sentence. Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried is serving the full 25 years, denies guilt, and has little chance of clemency.

Looking at this story, I think about how differently everything turned out. Ellison is now in a special center in New York, preparing for a normal life. The SEC banned her from managing companies for 10 years, but at least she’s not in prison anymore. Carolyn Ellison testified in court about everything — how they mixed client funds, hid losses, and gave themselves unlimited credit from FTX deposits. This helped her get a noticeably lighter sentence.

And Bankman-Fried? He’s still behind bars. Trump recently said he wouldn’t pardon him. The sentence can be appealed, but the chances of a new trial are minimal. I wonder how the crypto community assesses this asymmetry of punishments? Some think Ellison got off lightly, considering the scale of the damage and how it undermined trust in the industry.