A U.S. judge on Wednesday tightened Bankman-Fried's bail conditions by restricting his ability to communicate publicly, and said he will consider jailing him.

At a hearing in Manhattan federal court, prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, had crossed a line.

That was over his sharing with a reporter of his former romantic partner Caroline Ellison's personal writings.

Prosecutors claimed the move amounted to a second instance of witness tampering.

They also cited a January 2023 email to FTX's U.S. general counsel, in which Bankman-Fried proposed entering a "constructive relationship."

Ellison is one of three former members of Bankman-Fried's inner circle who pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

She is expected to testify against Bankman-Fried.

Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried, said his client was trying merely to protect his reputation by communicating with journalists, adding it would be "almost impossible" to prepare for the October 2 trial if Bankman-Fried were jailed.

Bankman-Fried has been largely confined to his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, since his extradition in December from the Bahamas.

That was where he was arrested and where FTX was based.

He has pleaded not guilty to charges he stole billions of dollars in FTX customer funds in part to plug losses at his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research.