Bankman-Fried might use flip phone under stricter bail plan

Prosecutors and attorneys for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are requesting the disgraced cryptocurrency entrepreneur be allowed a flip-phone or another device that’s not a smartphone while on bail.

The proposal, submitted in a letter Friday, comes as the judge in the case is deciding how to toughen Bankman-Fried’s bail requirements amid concerns the former billionaire might be communicating on electronic devices in ways that can’t be traced.

Prosecutors alleged last month Bankman-Fried used a virtual private network that blocks third parties from seeing online activity, known as VPN, to access the internet twice. They also said he sent an encrypted message over the Signal texting app in January to the general counsel of FTX US, a move they argued might indicate witness tampering.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits at FTX, his cryptocurrency platform.