Sam Bankman-Fried, formerly an operator of one of the most extensive digital currency exchanges globally, was convicted of deceit and financial laundering at the end of a four-week trial in New York.
By the end of the first day of its deliberations, the jury had handed down its verdict.
Bankman-Fried's status as a billionaire and his public prominence in the crypto industry have been undone, creating a remarkable conclusion.
Last year, the 31-year-old was taken into custody following the insolvency of FTX.
He is facing a jail sentence that could last for decades.
The prosecutors levelled accusations of deceit to investors and lenders versus him, and also of embezzling billions of dollars connected to cryptocurrency platform FTX which caused its failure. This was corroborated by seven counts of fraud and money laundering.
He stated he was not guilty, asserting that he had committed blunders, but he had acted in an honest manner.
From the onset, his case was destined to go against him, with three of his former confidants and coworkers - including former flame Caroline Ellison - putting forward guilty pleas with the aim of reducing their own penalties, as part of agreeing to serve as witnesses against him.
They will be given their sentence at a later time.
It was demonstrated that Alameda Research, the crypto trading firm owned by Bankman-Fried, had been accepting deposits coming from FTX customers since the start of the exchange, as traditional banks were not willing to open up an account for it at that time.
In spite of the public pledges made by Bankman-Fried for protection of the funds, the money was spent repaying Alameda lenders, acquiring property, making investments, and making political donations.
When FTX went into bankruptcy in November of last year, Alameda had an outstanding debt of $8 billion to the company.
Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos asserted in his closing arguments that even though he knew it was wrong, he still took the money because he believed he was smarter and superior and therefore could find a solution to evade the consequences.
Bankman-Fried opted for the risky choice to take the stand in his own defence, in an attempt to persuade the jury that the prosecution had not proven that he had acted with criminal intention.
"Lawyer Mark Cohe suggested that the mathematician was a bit of an awkward person who couldn't handle the speed of the business expansion," he said, "But that doesn't make him guilty of a criminal offence."
Bankman-Fried asserted that the money transfers between his firms were "allowable" and testified that he had little knowledge of the fiscal gap portrayed by his deputies until shortly prior to the FTX breakdown in the previous year.
The collapse caused many customers to be unable to get back their money.
Attorneys involved with the bankruptcy matter have indicated that the majority of the lost funds have been retrieved.
The trial of Bankman-Fried was carefully followed due to its potential ramifications for the crypto business overall, that has yet to regain its footing since the market distress in the prior year.
He has become a symbol of the issues in the industry, with leading authorities in the US characterizing it as full of criminal behavior.
Before his companies crumbled, he had the reputation of socializing with famous people and being seen in Washington and the media frequently, typically wearing relaxed clothing and with a head of untamed curls, to talk about the industry.
The increased expansion of FTX and his transactions in the past year, while other cryptocurrency companies felt the impact of a market decline, secured him the title of "the king of crypto".
BBC Panorama investigates the collapse of the "Crypto King"
BBC Panorama examines the downfall of the "Crypto King".
The show Panorama investigates the remarkable ascent and spectacular plummet of Sam Bankman-Fried, a mathematics savant who had the aspiration of changing the crypto world but ultimately became its most noteworthy failure.
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