Pleading the Fifth, But Make It Marriage: FTX Wives, SOTU Bets & Courtroom Crypto 🏛️

Michelle Bond, wife of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, has asked a federal court to block prosecutors from introducing her husband's guilty plea or any related plea materials at her upcoming trial on campaign finance charges. In a Friday filing with the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bond's legal team argued that the minimal probative value of the plea materials is "substantially outweighed by the risk of unfair prejudice to Ms. Bond." The filing added that Salame's pleas, in which he admitted to making "political contributions in [his] name that were funded by transfers from the bank accounts" of an entity tied to FTX, amount only to admissions of his own guilt and shed no light on Bond's "state of mind or participation in any charged offense." Salame pleaded guilty in 2023 and is currently serving a 90-month sentence for his role in the misuse of customer funds and related charges tied to the defunct exchange's 2022 collapse.

Bond faces charges alleging that her unsuccessful 2022 congressional run in New York was partially funded by contributions from FTX that were facilitated by Salame. Her motion also asked the court to consider information related to her "contemporaneous divorce and custody proceedings," contending that, although she and Salame were not married at the time of the alleged crime, the former FTX executive was not an "ordinary 'individual' donor" contributing to her campaign. The criminal case is one of the final proceedings involving individuals tied to FTX, alongside the prison sentences handed to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.

Separately, former New York congressman George Santos has been ordered to pay $35,070 in connection with bets placed on the prediction markets platform Kalshi. According to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the order consists of a $17,500 civil monetary penalty and $17,570 in disgorgement from profits earned on event contracts tied to his attendance at the 2026 State of the Union address in Washington, DC. The CFTC found that, while trading in the market, Santos posted on social media about his plans to attend or not attend the SOTU and "made a series of material misrepresentations and omissions about whether he would attend the SOTU," after which contract prices moved in a direction favorable to his positions.

Santos was expelled from Congress in 2023, and the CFTC action adds another regulatory penalty to a figure already subject to multiple legal proceedings. Together, the two cases illustrate how legal fallout from the 2022 crypto collapse and the rise of event-based prediction markets continue to play out in federal courtrooms. Both matters remain ongoing as courts weigh motions and assess penalties tied to digital asset and prediction market activity.