The judge rejected SBF's defense, stating that the loss amount exceeds $550 million.

ChainCatcher news, Judge Kaplan stated in the SBF sentencing trial that he rejected the defense's argument regarding (repaid) user losses, both legally and factually, because the claim that customers and creditors would receive full compensation is misleading. The defendant equates the losses in the bankruptcy case with the corresponding dollar amounts at that time (FTX compensates users based on the dollar amounts corresponding to the cryptocurrency values at the end of 2022 when the collapse occurred).

Kaplan stated that the incidental rise in the value of certain cryptocurrencies is unrelated to the severity of SBF's crimes. (For example) a thief brings stolen goods to Las Vegas and successfully places a bet; even if they eventually repay, they are not entitled to a reduced sentence. The amount lost by users in the incident is significantly higher than $550 million; his investigation found that investors lost $1.7 billion, lenders lost $1.3 billion, and customers lost $8 billion.