A young entrepreneur who made mistakes while running a crypto empire or a liar who stole and used people’s money to enrich himself? In the first hours of Sam Bankman-Fried’s six-week trial, that was the tone between his defense counsel and the prosecution.
The former FTX CEO is facing a total of seven charges related to fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud. He could spend over 100 years in prison if convicted of these charges.
At trial, Bankman-Fried appeared to be focused on his defense strategy, constantly checking his laptop and attorneys’ paperwork. As his defense counsel delivered an opening statement, he turned his focus towards the 12 jurors who will decide if Bankman-Fried intentionally misused its customers’ money or if mistakes were made in good faith.
Related: Sam Bankman-Fried FTX trial — 5 things you need to know
Two witnesses testified on the first day of the trial, Marc Juilliard, a French trader who lost four Bitcoins worth over $100,000 in November 2022, and Adam Yedidia, a personal friend of SBF and a former employee of Alameda and FTX.
FTX advertising campaigns, celebrity endorsements, and SBF tweets were among the evidence used by prosecutors to prove that SBF lied to customers while defrauding them.
According to the defense, however, there’s nothing wrong with hiring Tom Brady for an advertisement and filing for bankruptcy during a time of markets downturn.
The third day of the trial begins around 10:00 am in a federal court in lower Manhattan. It will feature Yedidia’s second testimony stint along with Gary Wang, FTX co-founder and a key witness in the case.
Cointelegraph is on the ground in New York with the latest updates on the trial. Follow live updates here.