Ellison testified against Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX’s founder and her ex-partner who was sentenced to 25 years in prison

Disgraced former cryptocurrency executive Caroline Ellison was released from federal custody Thursday after serving about 14 months for her involvement in the multibillion-dollar FTX fraud scandal. Ellison was previously head of FTX’s associated trading arm and the on-again, off-again romantic partner of the crypto exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

Ellison, 31, was sentenced to 24 months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to seven charges including wire fraud and money laundering. She featured prominently as a witness for the prosecution of Bankman-Fried, testifying that her former paramour directed her to commit crimes. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Ellison’s release is an epilogue to one of the largest financial-fraud investigations in US history. The collapse of FTX, once among the world’s biggest crypto firms, attracted immense media attention, rattled markets and for a time led to increased regulatory scrutiny of the crypto industry.