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Sam Bankman-Fried trial

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3 min ago

Catch up on what's happened so far

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, stands accused of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud, in a seismic event that has left the crypto industry reeling.

He has maintained his innocence since his arrest last December and has sought to shift blame toward other players in his business empire, including lawyers for his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, as well as his former business partner and on-and-off ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison. 

Prosecutors have cast SBF as a Bernie Madoff-like mastermind who stole from FTX’s customers. They claim FTX “was built on lies,” and that SBF took money from customers to enrich himself and his family, buy luxury beachfront property in the Bahamas and funnel millions into US political campaigns.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argue that their client, like many entrepreneurs, was “building the plane as they were flying it” and that “it’s not a crime to be the CEO of a company that later files for bankruptcy.”

After a full day on the witness stand Friday, the disgraced former CEO faces another day of testimony Monday, including "a brief rebuttal case," according to assistant US attorney Thane Rehn.

Rehn declined to identify the witness.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far from SBFs trial.

24 min ago

Bankman-Fried says he did not defraud anyone

In testimony Friday, Sam Bankman-Fried's lead defense attorney, Mark Cohen, asked: "What was your vision when you founded FTX?"

"We thought that we might be able to build the best product on the market" and "move the ecosystem forward," Bankman-Fried answered.

"It turned out basically the opposite of that," he added.

Cohen asked: "Did you defraud anyone?"

"No I did not," SBF replied.

"Did you make any mistakes?" Cohen asked.

"I made a number of mistakes," Bankman-Fried replied.

22 min ago

What prosecutors say

In their opening statements to a newly sworn-in jury in Manhattan federal court on October 4, lawyers laid out previews of their cases, offering two divergent narratives for the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. 

Assistant US Attorney Thane Rehn painted a picture of a villainous, greedy businessman whose boundless appetite for wealth and power led him to steal billions of dollars in customer funds.

“He had wealth, he had power, he had influence,” Rehn said. “But all of that — all of it — was built on lies.”

Rehn reiterated the government’s accusations that Bankman-Fried used his crypto exchange, FTX, as his own personal piggy bank, using the money he took from customers to enrich himself and his family, buy luxury beachfront property in the Bahamas and funnel millions into US political campaigns.

“This man,” Rehn said, pointing to Bankman-Fried a few feet away, “stole billions of dollars from thousands of people.” He repeatedly underscored a central argument: that Bankman-Fried stole, enlisted others to help him steal, lied about stealing, and continued to lie to try as he sought to cover up his crimes.

As Rehn spoke, Bankman-Fried, dressed in a suit and tie and flanked by his attorneys, trained his eyes on a laptop, expressing no reaction to the prosecutor’s allegations. But as his own lawyer, Mark Cohen, stepped up to speak, Bankman-Fried’s demeanor softened and his focus shifted to the jury box.

18 min ago

What SBF's lawyers say

“Sam didn’t defraud anyone,” lead defense attorney Mark Cohen told jurors, arguing that his client acted in good faith throughout the rise and fall of his startups.

“Sam was someone who worked very hard,” Cohen said, adding that SBF was “a math nerd who didn’t drink or party.”

As for the mistakes that led to FTX’s and Alameda’s undoing, Cohen argued that Bankman-Fried and his colleagues, like many entrepreneurs, were “building the plane as they were flying it.” But as the crypto industry flailed in 2022, they were about to fly into “a perfect storm.”

Cohen echoed some of the defenses Bankman-Fried has made over the past year, including that “things were moving quickly” and FTX didn’t have a fully built-out risk management team. 

“It’s not a crime to be the CEO of a company that later files for bankruptcy,” he said.

Cohen also sought to undermine the prosecution’s star witness, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda. Cohen told the jury that despite Bankman-Fried’s directive to place hedges on Alameda’s risky positions, she failed to do so. Bankman-Fried himself complained in documents leaked to the New York Times that he believed Ellison wasn’t able to handle the job.

19 min ago

What SBF says

Judge Lewis Kaplan has expressed exasperation with some of Bankman-Fried’s meandering answers, noting at one point: “The witness has what I’ll simply call an interesting way of responding to questions.”

At one point Judge Kaplan interjected, urging SBF to “listen to the question, and answer the question directly.”

For example, when asked whether he thought Alameda was permitted to spend FTX customer deposits, Bankman-Fried replied: “I wouldn’t phrase it that way but I think the answer to the question I think you’re trying to ask is 'yes.'"

When questioned by his own attorneys, Bankman-Fried appeared confident and upbeat. But he grew increasingly agitated when grilled by prosecutors and appeared to fidget more, nervously sipping water in between answering questions. 

In response to questions from Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Bankman-Fried said, variously: “I am giving you my best guess at answering the question" and “I am going to answer what I think the question you are asking is, but I apologize if I’m answering the wrong question."

26 min ago

This is where SBF goes after court each day

Bankman-Fried returns each day to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’s been held since August.

The MDC is a far cry from Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas compound and from his parents’ leafy Palo Alto neighborhood where he’d been under house arrest since his arrest in December.

Located on the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, the MDC has earned a reputation as one of the worst jails in America. Politicians and activists have held the facility up as a testament to a crumbling criminal justice system. 

Bankman-Fried shares his space with some other high-profile detainees, including the former president of Honduras, who was indicted on cocaine trafficking charges last year, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Bankman-Fried is also “friendly” with Genaro García Luna, the former head of Mexico’s FBI, who is awaiting sentencing for drug trafficking, this person said. 

When his trial began earlier this month, observers quickly noted changes to Bankman-Fried’s appearance. He seemed to have lost weight and, most surprising, his trademark wild locks were gone, shorn into a tight crew haircut.

The haircut, the person confirmed, was courtesy of a fellow MDC resident.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, stands accused of orchestrating a multibillion-dollar fraud, in a seismic event that has left the crypto industry reeling.

He has maintained his innocence since his arrest last December and has sought to shift blame toward other players in his business empire, including lawyers for his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, as well as his former business partner and on-and-off ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison. 

Prosecutors have cast SBF as a Bernie Madoff-like mastermind who stole from FTX’s customers. They claim FTX “was built on lies,” and that SBF took money from customers to enrich himself and his family, buy luxury beachfront property in the Bahamas and funnel millions into US political campaigns.

Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argue that their client, like many entrepreneurs, was “building the plane as they were flying it” and that “it’s not a crime to be the CEO of a company that later files for bankruptcy.”

After a full day on the witness stand Friday, the disgraced former CEO faces another day of testimony Monday, including "a brief rebuttal case," according to assistant US attorney Thane Rehn.

Rehn declined to identify the witness.

Here’s what we’ve learned so far from SBFs trial.

In testimony Friday, Sam Bankman-Fried's lead defense attorney, Mark Cohen, asked: "What was your vision when you founded FTX?"

"We thought that we might be able to build the best product on the market" and "move the ecosystem forward," Bankman-Fried answered.

"It turned out basically the opposite of that," he added.

Cohen asked: "Did you defraud anyone?"

"No I did not," SBF replied.

"Did you make any mistakes?" Cohen asked.

"I made a number of mistakes," Bankman-Fried replied.

In their opening statements to a newly sworn-in jury in Manhattan federal court on October 4, lawyers laid out previews of their cases, offering two divergent narratives for the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire. 

Assistant US Attorney Thane Rehn painted a picture of a villainous, greedy businessman whose boundless appetite for wealth and power led him to steal billions of dollars in customer funds.

“He had wealth, he had power, he had influence,” Rehn said. “But all of that — all of it — was built on lies.”

Rehn reiterated the government’s accusations that Bankman-Fried used his crypto exchange, FTX, as his own personal piggy bank, using the money he took from customers to enrich himself and his family, buy luxury beachfront property in the Bahamas and funnel millions into US political campaigns.

“This man,” Rehn said, pointing to Bankman-Fried a few feet away, “stole billions of dollars from thousands of people.” He repeatedly underscored a central argument: that Bankman-Fried stole, enlisted others to help him steal, lied about stealing, and continued to lie to try as he sought to cover up his crimes.

As Rehn spoke, Bankman-Fried, dressed in a suit and tie and flanked by his attorneys, trained his eyes on a laptop, expressing no reaction to the prosecutor’s allegations. But as his own lawyer, Mark Cohen, stepped up to speak, Bankman-Fried’s demeanor softened and his focus shifted to the jury box.

“Sam didn’t defraud anyone,” lead defense attorney Mark Cohen told jurors, arguing that his client acted in good faith throughout the rise and fall of his startups.

“Sam was someone who worked very hard,” Cohen said, adding that SBF was “a math nerd who didn’t drink or party.”

As for the mistakes that led to FTX’s and Alameda’s undoing, Cohen argued that Bankman-Fried and his colleagues, like many entrepreneurs, were “building the plane as they were flying it.” But as the crypto industry flailed in 2022, they were about to fly into “a perfect storm.”

Cohen echoed some of the defenses Bankman-Fried has made over the past year, including that “things were moving quickly” and FTX didn’t have a fully built-out risk management team. 

“It’s not a crime to be the CEO of a company that later files for bankruptcy,” he said.

Cohen also sought to undermine the prosecution’s star witness, Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda. Cohen told the jury that despite Bankman-Fried’s directive to place hedges on Alameda’s risky positions, she failed to do so. Bankman-Fried himself complained in documents leaked to the New York Times that he believed Ellison wasn’t able to handle the job.

Judge Lewis Kaplan has expressed exasperation with some of Bankman-Fried’s meandering answers, noting at one point: “The witness has what I’ll simply call an interesting way of responding to questions.”

At one point Judge Kaplan interjected, urging SBF to “listen to the question, and answer the question directly.”

For example, when asked whether he thought Alameda was permitted to spend FTX customer deposits, Bankman-Fried replied: “I wouldn’t phrase it that way but I think the answer to the question I think you’re trying to ask is 'yes.'"

When questioned by his own attorneys, Bankman-Fried appeared confident and upbeat. But he grew increasingly agitated when grilled by prosecutors and appeared to fidget more, nervously sipping water in between answering questions. 

In response to questions from Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Bankman-Fried said, variously: “I am giving you my best guess at answering the question" and “I am going to answer what I think the question you are asking is, but I apologize if I’m answering the wrong question."

Bankman-Fried returns each day to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, where he’s been held since August.

The MDC is a far cry from Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas compound and from his parents’ leafy Palo Alto neighborhood where he’d been under house arrest since his arrest in December.

Located on the industrial waterfront of Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood, the MDC has earned a reputation as one of the worst jails in America. Politicians and activists have held the facility up as a testament to a crumbling criminal justice system. 

Bankman-Fried shares his space with some other high-profile detainees, including the former president of Honduras, who was indicted on cocaine trafficking charges last year, a person familiar with the matter told CNN.

Bankman-Fried is also “friendly” with Genaro García Luna, the former head of Mexico’s FBI, who is awaiting sentencing for drug trafficking, this person said. 

When his trial began earlier this month, observers quickly noted changes to Bankman-Fried’s appearance. He seemed to have lost weight and, most surprising, his trademark wild locks were gone, shorn into a tight crew haircut.

The haircut, the person confirmed, was courtesy of a fellow MDC resident.