The crypto-king now accused of the world's biggest crypto-crime is tonight facing a lengthy wait in a jail cell in the Bahamas after an extradition request from the FBI.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire founder of collapsed fund FTX, a crypto trading platform, appeared in court today.
He made no statement to press waiting outside - despite having been very willing to discuss the issue with reporters in recent weeks.
"I don't think I committed fraud," he says.
"I didn't want any of this to happen - I was certainly not nearly as competent as I thought I was."
The FBI clearly sees it differently, lodging a raft of charges against him.
"I want to be clear," says New York assistant director Michael Driscoll.
"This case is about fraud. Fraud is fraud."
FTX, once valued at around NZ$49 billion, tanked virtually overnight after questions were raised about its liquidity.
Revelations about its financial practices since the collapse have many questioning how the company stayed afloat for so long.
Even the new CEO appeared at a loss to explain the situation to lawmakers on Capitol Hill today.
"We're dealing with literally, a sort of paperless bankruptcy in terms of how they created this company," said John J Ray.
"It makes it very difficult to trace and track assets."
It appears the FBI isn't taking any chances - with Bankman-Fried being held in custody until at least February.
The New York Southern District Attorney Damian Williams summing up the press conference with a final comment:
"It's fair to say, that by anyone's life, this is one of the biggest financial frauds in American history. Any more questions?"
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