Throughout cross-examination, protection lawyer Mark Cohen regularly tried to emphasize that Alameda’s complete web worth belongings had been the identical throughout the options, and Ellison saved responding that, sure, however the steadiness sheets had been nonetheless deceptive.
Issues Sam Is Freaking Out About
In keeping with Ellison’s “issues Sam is freaking out about” doc, Bankman-Fried was burdened about “getting regulators to crack down on Binance,” dangerous PR, elevating cash from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and presumably shopping for Snapchat.
In time, the dangerous PR (and worse than dangerous PR) got here true, SBF didn’t elevate cash from Mohammed bin Salman, and he definitely didn’t purchase Snapchat, however regulators have cracked down on Binance.
SBF’s Magic Hair and Free Morals
Bankman-Fried bought a haircut for the trial, which is considerably ironic provided that he allegedly noticed it, Samson-like, because the supply of his powers.
Ellison claimed that he mentioned his mop of hair helped him get larger bonuses at buying and selling agency Jane Road and was necessary for his picture. Her testimony revealed the extent of Bankman-Fried’s obsession together with his persona. For instance, he and Ellison drove luxurious vehicles within the Bahamas till he allegedly decreed that it was higher for his or her picture to drive a Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic, respectively. He courted the media as effectively, each by being straightforward to succeed in and by investing in media organizations similar to Semafor and TheBlock, Ellison mentioned.
Within the media, Bankman-Fried tried to domesticate an aura of being obsessive about morals, particularly with the efficient altruism motion, which focuses on evidence-based methods to enhance the world. His extra excessive ethical beliefs, nonetheless, won’t have handed muster if reported publicly.
In keeping with Ellison, Bankman-Fried mentioned that he was a utilitarian—and although some utilitarians nonetheless tried to dwell by guidelines like “Don’t lie” and “Don’t steal,” SBF didn’t agree with that. What mattered, and what he cared about most, she claimed he mentioned, was maximizing the great.
He thought he had a 5 % likelihood of changing into president, Ellison claimed, and could be prepared to flip a coin if tails meant the world could be destroyed however heads meant it will be twice nearly as good.
Previous Pals Take the Stand
Two longtime buddies of SBF—Adam Yedidia from MIT, and Gary Wang from math camp—testified this week. Yedidia, an FTX coder, claimed that prospects who wished to deposit fiat cash (similar to {dollars} or euros, quite than cryptocurrency) on the FTX alternate really ended up sending that cash to a checking account managed by, and utilized by, Alameda. Yedidia testified underneath an settlement that he couldn’t be prosecuted for his testimony.
Wang, who cofounded each FTX and Alameda and served as chief know-how officer, has already pled responsible and flat-out started by saying that he had dedicated monetary crimes with SBF. Specifically, Wang defined that FTX executives wrote code that gave Alameda privileges similar to the power to have a damaging steadiness on FTX and the power to borrow a $65 billion—so, basically limitless—line of credit score.
Random Quantity Generator
Hardly probably the most consequential revelation, however maybe the funniest: Throughout his testimony, Wang was proven a SBF tweet claiming that FTX had a $100 million insurance coverage fund. This was not true, and in reality the quantity they displayed had little to do with the precise quantity within the fund. The quantity they publicized was calculated by taking the every day buying and selling quantity, multiplying that by a random quantity round 7,500, and dividing it by 1 billion.