During Sam Bankman-Fried’s monthlong fraud trial, prosecutors presented damning evidence that the fallen crypto founder knew full well what he was doing from the beginning. He knew that Alameda Research borrowed billions in customer funds from FTX. He knew his fellow executives fabricated balance sheets to send to lenders. He knew FTX wasn’t fine when he told customers it was. In cryptoland, the response to these revelations was largely to condemn Bankman-Fried and FTX as an aberration.
“Over the past year, our industry took a reputational hit in Washington, but Sam Bankman-Fried’s crimes had nothing to do with the technology underpinning digital assets,” Kristin Smith, the CEO of the Blockchain Association, tells The Verge. “The trial was about a crook — not crypto. And while the trial hasn’t been a net positive for the industry, it has refocused minds on the fundamental promise of decentralization.