The US Department of Justice's decision not to file a new lawsuit against SBF has sparked outrage from the crypto community. A letter submitted by prosecutors stated that this matter must be resolved immediately.
The decision means SBF will not face additional charges of conspiracy to make illegal campaign contributions. The document stated that the evidence to be presented in the second hearing has already been presented and that it can be evaluated by the court in the trial in March 2024.
The crypto community opposed this decision. Paul Grewal, Coinbase's chief legal officer, said that the announcement was a miscarriage of justice and said:
"The public interest in making accusations public is almost always important. Campaign finance accusations are at the top of that list. What politicians and others knew and when are important questions that need to be answered."
Simon Dixon, co-founder of online investment platform BnkToTheFuture.com, said the decision also prevents US politicians from facing greater scrutiny over their campaign donations for the 2024 election.
SBF acknowledged it is a “major donor” to both sides of the political spectrum ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. His political donations exceeded $100 million, according to court records.
SBF said during its hearing that the donations came from loans from Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX. The former CEO planned to donate $1 billion by 2024.
SBF was cleared of allegations of conspiracy to bribe Chinese officials as well as political donations.
SBF was found guilty of all counts of wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, commodity fraud conspiracy, and money laundering conspiracy.