Sam Bankman-Fried vittnar utan jury. Detaljer

• Sam Bankman-Fried tog ställning på torsdagen som en del av sitt försvar.
• SBF claimed he managed FTX in line with the company’s policies.
• Bankman-Fried has tried to blame some of his former colleagues for FTX’s collapse.

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) took the stand to testify at his Thursday trial. However, in what has been considered a rare move, Judge Kaplan sent the jurors home to hear Bankman-Fried’s testimony and determine if it was admissible. Judge Kaplan enligt uppgift avskedade juryn efter att åklagarna avslutat sitt fall och försvaret presenterade sina första två vittnen.

Bankman-Fried was questioned about the data retention policies and FTX regulatory issues. He was also quizzed about the communications systems used by his trading firm, Alameda Research, and crypto exchange, FTX. Bankman-Fried said he believes messaging platforms like Slack and Signal align with FTX’s policies. However, prosecutors claimed he encouraged his employees to use these apps to cover their tracks.

Sam Bankman-Fried explained that he only began using the encrypted messaging app Signal after receiving approval from FTX counsel Daniel Friedberg. However, SBF said he never sought counsel to use Signal’s auto-delete feature.

När SBF blev ombedd att förklara radering av meddelanden på Signal, hävdade SBF att Friedberg hade godkänt en policy för dokumentlagring som bara involverade e-postmeddelanden och inte andra kommunikationssätt.

He explained that there were “meetings [with internal and external lawyers] to decide which channels would fall into which categories”, and that only “informal chatter for conversation” was set to auto-delete.

PRECIS INKOMMET:

Sam Bankman-Fried säger att han trodde att det var lagligt att flytta kundmedel från FTX genom Alameda Research.

— WhaleFUD (@WhaleFUD) 26 oktober 2023

Additionally, Sam Bankman-Fried said he believes his management of FTX complied with the exchange’s terms of service, which permitted Alameda to borrow money from FTX customers “in many circumstances.”

Prosecutors charged SBF with cheating clients by taking $10 billion out of their accounts without authorization, which resulted in an $8 billion hole in FTX’s balance sheet when the company crashed last November.

Several former FTX executives have testified about Bankman-Fried’s alleged involvement in the illegal activities at FTX. Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison claimed during her day-long testimony that she had collaborated with Bankman-Fried to steal FTX customers’ funds and use them for Alameda investments. Another FTX executive, Gary Wang, admitted to FTX’s wrongdoing.

SBF har erkänt var och en av de sju brottsanklagelserna mot honom. Innan vittna on Thursday, Bankman-Fried claimed that the executives who took control of FTX after its bankruptcy misinterpreted his plans for the company. Bankman-Fried has also tried to blame some of his former colleagues for FTX’s collapse.

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