A live blog of Sam Bankman-Fried's testimony in front of a jury at his criminal fraud trial in NYC over the collapse of FTX
given how today's testimony went even with limited ammunition from prosecutors, it seems disastrous to allow SBF to undergo cross-examination in the presence of a jury Jacob Silverman / @silvermanjacob : SBF actually began an answer with “I'm not a lawyer but...” Dude, we know. You're charged with seven felonies. Adam Cochran / @adamscochran : @icebergy_ Yes, because it's incredibly hard to prove knowledge, and it shifts the crime from fraud to gross negligence (much less sentence) due to the absence of a ‘mens rea’ It's a very good legal path for them to take, and the prosecution has to work really hard to fight it. We can put... @autismcapital : What's currently happening at Sam's private hearing with Judge Kaplan is exactly why Kaplan forced him to do a hearing prior to being allowed to speak with a jury; Kaplan did not want to waste the jury's time. Every time Sam is asked a question, he gives a non-answer unrelated to... @mikeburgersburg : SBF pointing the finger for everything at poker star Dan Friedburg @technology : Sam Bankman-Fried acknowledged that Alameda was being used as a payment processor for FTX. He previously stated in an interview with Bloomberg in August 2022 that the two companies were completely separate entities Follow our free to read live blog: https://www.bloomberg.com/... @autismcapital : The prosecution is really hammering down on the Signal with disappearing messages thing. Literally every single person in tech we know uses Signal with disappearing messages. While it's obvious why Sam was using that, it's pretty common and considered best practices to do that. @autismcapital : Sam blames his memory for not answering some questions. He must need more adderall...you know...for the memory. @autismcapital : We are not exaggerating when we say literally every other answer Sam says is “Dan Friedberg.” @allnick : You should have seen how eager SBF was... When we returned from lunch he was proactively sitting in the witness stand before being sworn in. He was basically giddy 😂 Adam Cochran / @adamscochran : SBF taking the stand to throw everyone under the bus. Trying to act like he was just a puppet that signed papers and wasn't aware of what was going on around him. He should really just be pleading the 5th instead of trying to make a mockery of the court. Adam Cochran / @adamscochran : Once again, SBF is trying to frame the argument as gross negligence rather than fraud as it carries a lesser sentence. But he has blatantly lied in court to do it. Because when asked on Twitter he would tell you they didn't borrow your assets. Not that he thought it was ok. @autismcapital : Basically the TLDR of why Judge Kaplan sent the FTX jury home is to avoid Sam Bankman-Fried shenanigans during the trial. Kaplan knows that Sam will try to overshare and sway the jury and say unnecessary and inappropriate things so he is doing a private hearing, today, without... Dawn Kopecki / @dawn_kopecki : Sam Bankman-Fried @SBF_FTX just took the witness stand in Manhattan court. In an unusual move, the judge sent the jury home and allowed SBF to testify before him alone, deciding to rule later on what the jury will hear or not. We have @CBerthelsen1 in the courtroom now.... Nick Baker / @inkbacker : lil bit of courtroom drama with SBF! @watcherguru : JUST IN: Sam Bankman-Fried says he believed it was legal to take FTX customer funds through Alameda Research. @autismcapital : Sam Bankman-Fried is testifying without a jury present. Judge Kaplan sent the jury home because he says there's some information they should not hear. Adam Cochran / @adamscochran : Starting with a “we were hacked” defense right off the bat despite no prior mention lol @autismcapital : SBF testifying that Signal with disappearing messages was integral to the business is hilarious on multidimensional levels with hindsight. @innercitypress : OK - SBF trial, day of defense case and, it's said, Bankman-Fried on the stand. Inner City Press is covering the case https://innercitypress.com/... & @SubstackInc https://matthewrussellleeicp.substack.c om/ ... & exhibits https://www.patreon.com/... and will live tweet, thread below [image] Forums: r/Buttcoin : SBF finally took the stand and it was a GLORIOUS sh*tshow! r/ethtrader : Sam Bankman-Fried could take stand at fraud trial over FTX collapse
Context & Ripple Effects
The defense’s account centers on separating poor oversight from intentional fraud: Bankman-Fried said he believed transfers through Alameda were lawful and characterized Alameda as an FTX payment processor. That position follows his earlier public defense of the collapse even after former executives had pleaded guilty in his post-collapse account of FTX’s failure.
The testimony also lands against prosecution evidence from former co-founder Gary Wang that Alameda had special privileges and a large credit line, while coverage has described the importance of the founders’ fractured inner circle to the case. The dispute is therefore not only about losses, but about who knew what and who controlled the mechanisms connecting FTX and Alameda.
First-order effects
- The judge’s jury-excluded hearing determines which portions of Bankman-Fried’s explanation can reach jurors, limiting how directly the defense can present its legal-advice and negligence framing.
- Bankman-Fried’s decision to testify exposes his account of Alameda’s role, his claimed understanding of FTX’s finances, and his blame of counsel to prosecutor cross-examination before the jury.
Second-order effects
- The defense’s gross-negligence theory makes proof of intent the central courtroom contest; evidence of Alameda’s preferential access becomes more important because it bears on whether the arrangements were understood rather than accidental.
- The case puts FTX and Alameda’s operational separation under sustained scrutiny, making the payment-processor explanation harder to assess in isolation from the firms’ credit and customer-fund controls.
Third-order effects
- If courts continue to treat affiliated trading firms and exchange platforms as inseparable when assessing customer-fund controls, crypto businesses will face stronger pressure to document authority, transfers, and internal exceptions.
- The trial illustrates a broader shift from founder narratives toward auditable governance evidence when financial platforms fail; the extent to which that translates into durable industry standards remains uncertain.
The trend: Crypto-platform failures are increasingly being evaluated through the governance and control boundaries between customer-facing exchanges and affiliated trading operations.