TL;DR:
- The CFTC issued consent orders against Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, imposing a five-year trading ban on both.
- Ellison also received a 10-year registration ban, while Wang received an eight-year ban in connection with the FTX case.
- FTX and Alameda Research had already reached a settlement with the CFTC in August 2024, agreeing to pay $12.7 billion in restitution to affected users.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced consent orders related to its civil cases against former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang. The orders were filed with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and formally close the enforcement actions the regulator had kept open against both executives since December 2022.
The resolutions require Ellison and Wang to continue cooperating with the regulator. In addition to the five-year trading ban imposed on both, Ellison was subject to a 10-year registration ban, while Wang received an 8-year restriction in the same category.
The CFTC Orders Are the Result of the Executives’ Cooperation
CFTC enforcement director David Miller noted that “Ellison and Wang were senior executives who committed fraud at Alameda and FTX, for which they were held accountable,” while clarifying that “their sanctions reflect the material assistance they provided in the investigations related to FTX.” The distinction is crucial because the civil penalties imposed are significantly lower than those faced by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being found guilty at trial.
Ellison, Wang, and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh were charged with fraud and testified against Bankman-Fried in the criminal proceedings related to the misuse of customer funds at the exchange. Ellison received a sentence of two years and was released early in January 2026, while Singh and Wang received a sentence equivalent to time already served.
Two years ago, the CFTC ordered FTX and Alameda Research to pay $12.7 billion in disgorgement and restitution to affected users, a resolution issued in August 2024. With these new measures, the regulator considers its civil action closed against the main collaborators of the fraudulent scheme that led to the collapse of one of the largest exchanges in the crypto industry.
