Throughout cross examination, protection legal professional Mark Cohen frequently tried to emphasize that Alameda’s complete internet worth belongings had been the identical throughout the options, and Ellison stored responding that, sure, however, she mentioned, the stability sheets had been nonetheless deceptive.
Issues Sam Is Freaking Out About
In line with Ellison’s “issues Sam is freaking out about” doc, Bankman-Fried was burdened about “getting regulators to crack down on Binance,” unhealthy PR, elevating cash from Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, and probably shopping for Snapchat.
In time, the unhealthy PR (and worse than unhealthy PR) got here true, SBF didn’t elevate cash from Mohammed bin Salman, and he actually didn’t purchase Snapchat, however regulators have cracked down on Binance.
SBF’s Magic Hair and Unfastened Morals
Bankman-Fried acquired 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 that his mop of hair helped him get greater bonuses at buying and selling agency Jane Road and was essential for his picture. Her testimony revealed the extent of Bankman-Fried’s obsession along with his persona. For instance, he and Ellison drove luxurious automobiles 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 resembling 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, nevertheless, may not have handed muster if reported publicly.
In line with Ellison, Bankman-Fried mentioned that he was a utilitarian and, although some utilitarians nonetheless tried to stay 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 p.c probability of turning 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 pretty much as good.
Outdated Associates Take the Stand
Two longtime mates 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 (resembling {dollars} or Euros, somewhat than cryptocurrency) on the FTX change really ended up sending that cash to a checking account managed by, and utilized by, Alameda. Yedidia testified beneath an settlement that he couldn’t be prosecuted for his testimony.
Wang, who co-founded each FTX and Alameda and served as chief expertise officer, has already pled responsible and flat-out started by saying that he had dedicated monetary crimes with SBF. Particularly, Wang defined that FTX executives wrote code that gave Alameda privileges resembling the power to have a unfavourable stability on FTX and the power to borrow a $65 billion—so, primarily limitless—line of credit score.
Random Quantity Generator
Hardly essentially 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 actually the quantity they displayed had little to do with the precise quantity within the fund. The quantity they publicized was calculated by taking the day by day buying and selling quantity, multiplying that by a random quantity round 7,500, and dividing it by one billion.
