Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial is nearing its conclusion, with the prosecution set to wrap up their case on October 26th after presenting nearly 20 testimonies. The prosecution has called upon a diverse range of witnesses, including former FTX employees, customers, investors, government officials, and law enforcement agents. The central argument of the case is that Bankman-Fried intentionally deceived all of them, resulting in an $8 billion gap between FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022. Bankman-Fried’s defense team has not yet confirmed whether they will present a case, as attorneys are not required to do so in criminal trials. However, assuming they do, their defense will begin on October 26th. So far, Bankman-Fried’s counsel, led by Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, has struggled to present a coherent narrative to the jurors. They even missed crucial arguments during the cross-examination of Bankman-Fried’s former friends, who have accused him of directing them to commit crimes while cooperating with the government. The defense faces a significant challenge, as when a case is initiated by the government, there is a 95% likelihood of indictment. However, the burden of proving the alleged crimes lies with the prosecutors. During the previous week in court, the testimony of FTX’s former engineering director, Nishad Singh, was a highlight. Singh claimed that Bankman-Fried instructed him to make millionaire venture investments using loans from Alameda, without realizing that the funds were tied to FTX customer deposits. Singh himself faces up to 75 years in prison for charges related to defrauding users of the crypto exchange. District Judge Lewis Kaplan expressed frustration with both parties’ lawyers after a witness fled Texas and testified for only 15 minutes. He criticized their witness strategies. Another significant development was the presentation of a spreadsheet by FTX’s former general counsel, Can Sun. The spreadsheet tracked $2.1 billion in loans to Bankman-Fried and other executives, but Sun claimed to be unaware of the exchange’s commingling of funds with Alameda. Sun is also cooperating with the government in the case. If convicted of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud, Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison.

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Information	Details
Geography	North America
Countries
Sentiment	negative
Relevance Score	1
People	Caroline Ellison, Mark Cohen, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Adam Yedidia
Companies	DAOs, FTX, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Cointelegraph, Alameda Research
Currencies	None
Securities	None