✍ Who is Ryan Salame?

Ryan Salame is an American businessman who served as the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian branch of the cryptocurrency platform FTX. In 2024, he pleaded guilty to charges related to financial fraud and illegal campaign financing, leading to the collapse of FTX.

Charges and Sentence

In May 2024, Salame was sentenced to 7.5 years (90 months) in prison after pleading guilty to the following charges:

- Conspiracy to make illegal political contributions.

- Conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmission business.

- He was also ordered to pay a $6 million fine, in addition to over $5 million in restitution, and forfeited assets estimated at around $1.5 billion, including his Porsche and his properties in Massachusetts.

Salame is currently being held at FCI Cumberland, a medium-security federal prison located in Maryland, United States.

Before beginning his sentence, Salame updated his LinkedIn profile in a sarcastic manner, referring to the start of his seven and a half year prison term, which sparked widespread reactions on social media.