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Throughout cross-examination, protection lawyer Mark Cohen regularly tried to emphasize that Alameda’s complete internet worth belongings had been the identical throughout the options, and Ellison stored responding that, sure, however the steadiness sheets had been nonetheless deceptive.
Issues Sam Is Freaking Out About
In response to Ellison’s “issues Sam is freaking out about” doc, Bankman-Fried was careworn 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 increase cash from Mohammed bin Salman, and he actually didn’t purchase Snapchat, however regulators have cracked down on Binance.
SBF’s Magic Hair and Free Morals
Bankman-Fried obtained a haircut for the trial, which is considerably ironic on condition that he allegedly noticed it, Samson-like, because the supply of his powers.
Ellison claimed that he stated his mop of hair helped him get larger bonuses at buying and selling agency Jane Avenue 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 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 properly, each by being straightforward to achieve and by investing in media organizations equivalent to Semafor and TheBlock, Ellison stated.
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, may not have handed muster if reported publicly.
In response to Ellison, Bankman-Fried stated that he was a utilitarian—and although some utilitarians nonetheless tried to reside 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 stated, was maximizing the great.
He thought he had a 5 p.c likelihood of turning into president, Ellison claimed, and can be keen to flip a coin if tails meant the world can be destroyed however heads meant it could be twice nearly as good.
Previous Associates Take the Stand
Two longtime pals of SBF—Adam Yedidia from MIT, and Gary Wang from math camp—testified this week. Yedidia, an FTX coder, claimed that prospects who needed to deposit fiat cash (equivalent to {dollars} or euros, reasonably than cryptocurrency) on the FTX change truly 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 equivalent to the flexibility to have a damaging steadiness on FTX and the flexibility 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 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 each day buying and selling quantity, multiplying that by a random quantity round 7,500, and dividing it by 1 billion.
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