Sam Bankman-Fried will likely defend himself at his fraud trial, due to begin on Tuesday, by arguing he did not think the use by his FTX cryptocurrency exchange of customer funds was improper and by challenging the credibility of those who say otherwise.
, due to begin on Tuesday, by arguing he did not think the use by his FTX cryptocurrency exchange of customer funds was improper and by challenging the credibility of those who say otherwise.
"We got overconfident and careless," Bankman-Fried wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Nov. 16, five days after FTX filed for bankruptcy. "And problems were brewing. Larger than I realized." FTX ultimately halted withdrawals in November as customers raced to pull out their money due to concerns over commingling of funds between the exchange and hedge fund. But Bankman-Fried is likely to argue that was due to his failures running the business, not any theft of funds, said Jordan Estes, a former federal prosecutor.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan barred Bankman-Fried from calling an expert witness to share his interpretation of the terms of service, but did not rule out letting the defendant cross-examine witnesses about the terms.Testimony from former colleagues who were close to Bankman-Fried could challenge his claim of good faith. Three former members of his inner circle -and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh - have pleaded guilty and are set to testify against him at trial.
Bankman-Fried is likely to argue that his former colleagues are motivated to falsely implicate him in the hope of winning a more lenient sentence, a common tactic in criminal cases involving cooperating witnesses, experts said.
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