Ex-FTX, Alameda Executives Get 5-Year Trading Bans in CFTC Case

FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research Chief Executive Officer Caroline Ellison avoided financial penalties under a settlement with the US derivatives regulator over their roles at the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange.

Ellison will be banned from trading for five years and prohibited from registering with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for 10 years, the CFTC said in a statement Wednesday. Wang faces a five-year trading ban and an eight-year registration prohibition, the CFTC said. The agency said it didn’t seek monetary penalties or a return of ill-gotten profits based on their cooperation in the investigation.

“Today’s resolution further underscores the high value this division places on robust cooperation,” CFTC Enforcement Director David Miller said in a statement.

The court-approved settlement, outlined in a filing in federal court in Manhattan, stems from the 2022 implosion of FTX, the once high-flying exchange led by Sam Bankman-Fried.

The firm filed for bankruptcy and exposed what prosecutors described as a yearslong fraud that bilked billions of dollars from customers, investors and lenders. Bankman-Fried is serving 25 years in prison. He tried unsuccessfully to overturn his conviction earlier this year.

Ellison pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2024. Wang also pleaded guilty but was spared from serving time. Both had testified as prosecution witnesses against Bankman-Fried.

The CFTC in April said former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh would have to return $3.7 million in illegal profits and be subject to a temporary registration and trading ban.