Bail doesn't work that way at this scale. His parents put up the deed to their house, and a couple of really rich friends showed that they have $250 million in assets and agreed to let the government seize them if SBF doesn't show up. No cash really changes hands.
This system just seems insane. Why allow people to temporarily buy their way out of jail? How is this not grossly unfair to the poor?
It is grossly unfair to the poor and the not-so-poor. It's a two-tiered justice system where the politically connected have different rules applied to them than the rest of us.
Innocent until proven guilty, presumption of innocence and so on. The system is insane, but not for the reasons you seem to think. It is unfair to the poor.
In my experience, pretty much everyone without a record, or has always shown up for court gets ROR’d (released on own recognizance) for non violent crimes. The people that get screwed are the ones that skip court dates and then get caught again. If someone gets caught shoplifting and the cops find a gram of heroin in their pocket, it is common to be ROR’d after 24 hours in the tank if there are no outstanding warrants for skipping court. If they skip court and get caught again, the bond will be like $5000. If they are poor, they will spend a week in county jail, dry out, get on Suboxone, get assigned a parol officer, and hopefully be on a better path. Bail is meant to encourage people to show up for court and is needed for people who have a history of not doing that. It is less of a rich/poor thing, but rather a history of skipping court vs not skipping.