Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and one-time confidante of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has quietly left federal prison after serving about 11 months of her two-year sentence.
The move marks a lower-security chapter in one of crypto’s most infamous legal sagas—less “Orange Is the New Black,” more “Supervised and Structured.”
Summary
- The former Alameda Research CEO and ex-partner of Sam Bankman-Fried was transferred from Danbury Federal Prison to home confinement.
- She pleaded guilty to conspiring in the $11 billion FTX-Alameda fraud and served as a key government witness in Bankman-Fried’s trial.
- Ellison’s projected release is February 20, 2026.
According to Business Insider, Ellison, 31, was transferred on October 16 from the low-security Danbury Federal Correctional Institution in Connecticut to what the Federal Bureau of Prisons calls “community confinement.”
That means she remains in federal custody but is now housed either in home confinement or a halfway house, according to BOP spokesperson Randilee Giamusso. As is standard practice, the bureau declined to disclose her exact location or the terms of her confinement, citing privacy and security concerns.
Online prison records show Ellison’s projected release date is February 20, 2026—nearly nine months earlier than her original sentence would suggest. Her legal team declined to comment.
Ellison reported to Danbury in early November 2024 after being sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the multibillion-dollar fraud that led to the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. She pleaded guilty to conspiring with Bankman-Fried in what prosecutors described as an $11 billion scheme tied to the downfall of FTX and its sister hedge fund, Alameda Research.
As part of a plea deal with U.S. prosecutors, Ellison became the government’s star witness in the high-profile trial against Bankman-Fried, offering detailed testimony that helped secure his conviction.
In September, Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced her to two years behind bars and ordered the forfeiture of $11 billion, while rejecting prosecutors’ recommendation for supervised release in lieu of prison time. Kaplan said incarceration was necessary to reinforce that fraud—yes, even in crypto—is a serious crime with real consequences.
FTX collapsed in November 2022, setting off shockwaves across digital asset markets already weakened by a broader industry downturn. While Ellison cooperated and cut a deal, Bankman-Fried went to trial, where he showed little remorse. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024 and has since appealed his conviction.
Other former FTX executives have also faced stiff penalties. Former co-CEO Ryan Salame was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in May, but it was reportedly shortened.
Additional cases tied to the exchange continue to wind their way through the courts—ensuring that the fallout from crypto’s most spectacular implosion is far from over.
