A young entrepreneur who made a mistake while running a cryptocurrency empire, or a con man who steals and uses people’s money to enrich himself? That was the tone between Sam “SBF” Bankman Fried’s defense attorneys and prosecutors in the early hours of his six-week trial.
The former FTX CEO faces a total of seven charges related to fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. If convicted, he could spend more than 100 years in prison.
During the trial, SBF seemed focused on his defense strategy, constantly checking his laptop and attorney’s files. As his defense attorney delivered his opening statement, he turned his attention to the 12 jurors who will decide whether SBF intentionally misused FTX client funds or whether it committed errors in good faith.
related: Sam Bankman-Fried FTX Trial — 5 Things You Need to Know
On the first day of the trial, two witnesses took the stand, namely French trader Marc Juilliard, who lost 4 Bitcoins worth more than $100,000 in November 2022, and a personal friend of SBF and a former employee of Alameda and FTX Adam Yedidia.
The FTX advertising campaign, celebrity endorsements and SBF tweets were evidence prosecutors used to prove SBF defrauded and lied to its clients.
However, there was nothing wrong with hiring Tom Brady for advertising and filing for bankruptcy during a market downturn, according to the defense.
The third day of the trial began around 10 a.m. at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. Yedidia will testify for the second time along with Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX and a key witness in the case.
Cointelegraph is live in New York reporting on the latest developments in the trial. Follow here for live updates.
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