Space Travel News
INTERNET SPACE
Bankman-Fried struggles in final day of court testimony
Bankman-Fried struggles in final day of court testimony
by AFP Staff Writers
New York (AFP) Oct 31, 2023

Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried struggled on Tuesday to explain his behavior during the last days of his FTX empire, as prosecutors shone a light on his willingness to take massive risks.

Bankman-Fried's last day of testimony ended four weeks of courtroom drama in which his former colleagues took turns to insist that the 31-year-old was behind key decisions at the doomed crypto exchange.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate has been charged with seven counts of fraud, embezzlement and criminal conspiracy and faces decades in prison if found guilty on all counts.

His downfall followed FTX's meteoric rise in which the platform became the world's second biggest crypto exchange -- making Bankman-Fried a tech-world billionaire sensation.

The prosecution's closing arguments will begin Wednesday.

In the last day of her withering cross-examination, US prosecutor Danielle Sassoon honed in on the final days of FTX.

"SBF" is accused of illegally using funds deposited on the FTX platform, which went bankrupt in November 2022, without customers' knowledge to cover bad investments at Alameda Research, his hedge fund.

"You never instigated measures to segregate" FTX's customers' money? Sassoon asked the defendant.

"I don't remember giving any directions," Bankman-Fried admitted.

Up to $14 billion was siphoned off to fuel Alameda Research's often risky investments, which Bankman-Fried said was the responsibility of Caroline Ellison, his former business partner and girlfriend.

Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried to detail the arrangements made when he discovered, in the fall of 2022 according to him, that Alameda owed billions of dollars to FTX customers.

Bankman-Fried recalled asking Alameda executives for an explanation, in response to which "I was told they were busy and I should stop asking questions."

The former multi-billionaire, whose fortune went up in flames with the demise of FTX and Alameda, admitted to a series of investments made with customer funds, including $35 million worth of real estate.

These investments were not easy to cash out in the event of a run on FTX, as happened in November 2022 when customers asked for their money back.

Were you ready to "maximize the potential to make money even if it created the risk of going bust?"

"It depends on the context," Bankman-Fried replied evasively.

That evasiveness dominated Bankman-Fried's testimony, in which he responded repeatedly on Monday that he could not recall making statements to the media or lawmakers that seemed to contradict the dire state of his business at the time.

Related Links
Satellite-based Internet technologies

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters
Tweet

RELATED CONTENT
The following news reports may link to other Space Media Network websites.
INTERNET SPACE
Google CEO gets grilling in US antitrust trial
Washington (AFP) Oct 30, 2023
Google CEO Sundar Pichai faced a fierce grilling from a US antitrust lawyer on Monday as he pushed back against accusations that his company acted illegally to preserve the dominance of its world-leading search engine. At the heart of the case by the US Department of Justice is Google's massive revenue sharing deals in which iPhone maker Apple takes a big cut of Google ad revenue made from being the default search engine on Apple devices. Testimony has revealed that Google last year alone paid o ... read more

INTERNET SPACE
INTERNET SPACE
Mystery of the Martian core solved

Ascending Fang Turret: Sols 3991-3993

Sampling unique bedrock at the margin unit

Short but Sweet; Sols 3987-3988

INTERNET SPACE
CADRE rover getting prepped for testing

Next generation Moon camera tested in Europe

ACT's Thermal Management System will help VIPER Rover survive long lunar nights

Texas A and M joins multimillion-dollar moon orbit tracking project

INTERNET SPACE
How NASA is protecting Europa Clipper from space radiation

NASA's Webb Discovers New Feature in Jupiter's Atmosphere

Plot thickens in hunt for ninth planet

Large mound structures on Kuiper belt object Arrokoth may have common origin

INTERNET SPACE
ET phone Dublin? Astrophysicists scan the Galaxy for signs of life

Exoplanet-informed research helps search for radio technosignatures

Webb detects tiny quartz crystals in clouds of hot gas giant

Extreme habitats: Microbial life in Old Faithful Geyser

INTERNET SPACE
New US rocket Vulcan Centaur set to launch on December 24

Rocket Lab receives FAA authorization to resume launches

UK plans space mission after striking deal with US firm

SpaceX Achieves Back-to-Back Starlink Satellite Launches to Expand Global Internet Coverage

INTERNET SPACE
China discloses tasks of Shenzhou-17 crewed space mission

Shenzhou 17 docks with Tiangong Space Station

China able, ready to invite foreign astronauts to its space station

China launches new mission to space station

INTERNET SPACE
UArizona researchers probe how a piece of the moon became a near-Earth asteroid

Hera asteroid mission goes on trial

Lucy preparing for its first asteroid flyby

Psyche's 3.6 billion kilometre journey to the centre of the Earth via it's namesake

Subscribe Free To Our Daily Newsletters




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.