Caroline Ellison’s Manifund role tests crypto’s post-FTX redemption culture

Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda Research CEO who cooperated with prosecutors after FTX collapsed, has taken a full-time role at Manifund, a nonprofit grant platform. Cofounder Austin Chen said in the Manifund announcement that Ellison will help improve its funding platform and study how philanthropic money can be directed more effectively.

She began a work trial on July 13, moved into a full-time role on August 10, and spent her first two months working under the pseudonym “Carol.”

For crypto followers, the key issue is the kind of job taken by Ellison. She is not going back to work at a trade desk or managing a treasury. Ellison’s work revolves around technical infrastructure, logistics, and customer support. One of her early assignments included a reconciliation tool that revealed some misreported transactions in the Manifund database in the sum of “5-6 figures.”

The actual work: plumbing, not a portfolio

Manifund is an open platform that connects charitable donors and fundraisers. Manifund has three methods of financing projects: publicly disclosed proposals backed by donors, regrantors who distributes grant budgets according to donors’ directives, and markets for impact-certificates in which donors provide funds for the winning or deserving projects.

According to the organization, it has financed 486 projects, raised $17.2 million for various projects, and transferred $5.46 million through regrantors.

Ellison is responsible for the infrastructure involved in this initiative. She claims that she will continue to work on the improvement of Manifund’s technical system along with its operational and customer service aspects, while the selection of funded projects will not be part of her responsibilities.

Why a nonprofit role sits outside her regulatory bars

That distinction is important because Ellison still has limitations related to the case against FTX, the crypto exchange co-founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. Back in December 2025, the SEC filed proposed final consent judgments that restrict her from being an officer or a director for 10 years as well as impose a conduct-based injunction for a period of 5 years.

In a different statement made in August, the CFTC said that Ellison is also under a trading ban that lasts 5 years and a registration bar that lasts 10 years.

All in all, it can be said that working in a technical and operational position at a private charity is outside the scope of the limitations.

Ellison pleaded guilty in December 2022 to charges of fraud and conspiracy connected to FTX. Later on, she cooperated with the prosecution and gave evidence against Sam Bankman-Fried. Ellison started a 2-year imprisoned sentence in November 2024 and was released in January 2026 after that.

Manifund’s track record, and its FTX debt

Ellison’s appointment is particularly sensitive because Manifund has ties to the FTX Future Fund. Chen reported that he had “a keen debt” to the fund that was behind the initial Manifold initiative and most of Manifund’s concepts have been based on it.

The SEC has claimed that Alameda used misappropriated funds of FTX’s customers for trading and other investments. Given this past, it becomes evident that Ellison’s appointment goes beyond the standard hiring decision.

There is also a transparency issue. Manifund promotes transparency in its business and Chen has to admit that allowing Ellison to work under a pseudonym for several months implied that the organization had “compromised on transparency.”

Will the community grant the “redemption”?

Chen made his reasoning clear:

I believe in redemption.

— Austin Chen, Manifund cofounder

He argued that Ellison had admitted wrongdoing, worked to make creditors whole and served her prison time. Ellison described the role in similar terms:

I’m very grateful to Austin for giving me a second chance, and judging me on my current work performance rather than my past.

— Caroline Ellison

Not everyone is convinced. Responding to the announcement, Cate Hall called the decision:

truly terrible judgment

— Cate Hall, former CEO of Astera Institute

That disagreement is what makes the hire significant. Ellison is not returning to crypto finance, but her new role does test how far reputational rehabilitation can go after FTX.

For Manifund, the answer will depend less on the symbolism of hiring her and more on whether donors believe its transparency, controls and results justify the trust Chen is asking them to extend.