- The trial for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is now underway, more than ten months after the collapse of the crypto exchange that at one point was the third-ranked exchange by trading volume in the whole of the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
Bankman-Fried’s defense team sought to portray their client as a well-intentioned young entrepreneur who unfortunately made business decisions that “didn’t work out.” The defense referred back to previously presented arguments that all transactions were legitimate or made in good faith by SBF during the crypto market downturn and the subsequent collapse of FTX in November 2022.
Juilliard testified that the had four Bitcoins worth $100,000 held on FTX at the time of its collapse. He admitted that FTX and Bankman-Fried’s marketing efforts, as well as the notable venture capital companies backing FTX, gave him the confidence to use the exchange for crypto trading, and assumed that the VC firms backing the platform had done their due diligence on the exchange and its leadership.
When asked why he was testifying with an immunity order, Yedidia said, “I was concerned that, as a developer for FTX, I may have unwittingly written a code that contributed to a crime.” Yedidia also claimed Bankman-Fried asked him to handle any further conversations regarding FTX’s code via the Signal messaging app.
When asked about his knowledge of the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison, Yedidia said, “He [SBF] said they had had sex and asked me if I thought they should date [...] I said no.”