Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and a central figure in the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire, has been quietly transferred out of federal prison and into community confinement after serving nearly 11 months of her two-year sentence, according to Business Insider.
Ellison, 31, was moved on October 16 from the low-security Federal Correctional Institution in Danbury, Connecticut, to community confinement, a spokesperson for the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) confirmed.
While she remains in federal custody, community confinement typically involves placement in a halfway house or home confinement during the final phase of a sentence.
“For privacy, safety, and security reasons, we do not discuss the conditions of confinement for any individual, including reasons for transfers or release plans,” BOP spokesperson Randilee Giamusso said, declining to specify Ellison’s location or terms of confinement.
Federal prison records show Ellison’s projected release date as February 20, 2026, nearly nine months earlier than her original sentence completion date. Her attorneys declined to comment on the transfer.
Ellison reported to FCI 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 FTX and its sister trading firm, Alameda Research. She pleaded guilty to conspiring with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in an $11 billion scheme that misused customer funds.
Ellison reported to FCI 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 FTX and its sister trading firm, Alameda Research.
She pleaded guilty to conspiring with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in an $11 billion scheme that misused customer funds.
During Bankman-Fried’s 2023 criminal trial, Ellison served as the prosecution’s key witness, testifying that customer assets from FTX were secretly funneled to Alameda and used for risky investments, political donations, and other expenses. Her testimony was widely seen as instrumental in securing Bankman-Fried’s conviction on all seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
At Ellison’s sentencing, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan acknowledged her “substantial” cooperation with prosecutors but said the seriousness of the crimes required prison time.
Rejecting her lawyers’ request for no incarceration, Kaplan said cooperation did not amount to a “get-out-of-jail-free card.”
Bankman-Fried was later sentenced by Kaplan to 25 years in federal prison.