SBF paints alternative view of his knowledge of the Fiat@ account in court

Sam Bankman-Fried knows he made a number of mistakes, both small and large, over his time leading crypto trading firm Alameda Research and, later, his cryptocurrency exchange FTX. In fact, Bankman-Fried planned to begin his testimony to Congress following the FTX collapse with a simple declaration, made under oath: "I fucked up."

In Bankman-Fried’s telling, he believed the funds he spent on everything from venture investments and marketing partnerships to Bahamian real estate purchases and loan repayments came from legitimate sources, mainly the profits of his multi-billion dollar companies, along with loans to Alameda Research, which Bankman-Fried owned 90% of, from third-party lenders.

"So at the time, I wasn't entirely sure what was happening. What I believed was that either the funds were just being held in a bank account and...not used or removed, or that they were being sent to FTX in one way or another, maybe as stablecoin," Bankman-Fried testified. If Alameda was borrowing the funds, Bankman-Fried assumed "...that would be reflected as a borrow on Alameda's info@ account," or the main account Alameda Research used for trading on FTX.

According to Bankman-Fried’s testimony, it wasn’t until October 2022 that he stumbled across the fiat@ entry himself, in a new database meant for non-developers to use without risking any harm to FTX’s primary database. Bankman-Fried testified he was "very surprised" after discovering the fiat@ liability, which was around $8 billion at the time. Fiat@ had the effect of obscuring the true nature of Alameda’s borrowing.

Furthermore, since the liability represented a debt to FTX, Alameda becoming insolvent would endanger not just his trading firm, but his entire empire. Nishad Singh, for example, testified that he had overheard Bankman-Fried discussing fiat@ with FTX chief of staff Jen Chan in Dec. 2019 — far before the June 2022 incident when Bankman-Fried testified he first heard of its existence.

Law Law Latest News, Law Law Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

SBF TRIAL Podcast 10/26: Sam Bankman-Fried Will Testify In His Own Criminal Trial TodayListen to the latest SBF trial updates by the CoinDesk Podcast Network.
Source: CoinDesk - 🏆 291. / 63 Read more »

SBF on the stand: Sam Bankman-Fried thought taking FTX deposits through Alameda was legalSam Bankman-Fried (SBF) took the stand on Thursday, October 26, though in a trial court with the jury not present as Judge Kaplan thought it should no
Source: FXStreetNews - 🏆 14. / 72 Read more »

SBF TRIAL Podcast 10/27: Sam Bankman-Fried Takes the Stand, In Front Of The JuryListen to the latest SBF trial updates by the CoinDesk Podcast Network.
Source: CoinDesk - 🏆 291. / 63 Read more »

The Trial of Crypto’s Golden Boy: Bankman-Fried Testifies - The Journal.After a short break, court is back in session as Sam Bankman-Fried takes the stand to testify in his defense. Rachel Humphreys and Caitlin Ostroff were inside the courtroom to hear some of Bankman-Fried’s side of the story and how the prosecution worked to pick it apart.
Source: WSJ - 🏆 98. / 63 Read more »

Sam Bankman-Fried acknowledged FTX customers were hurt but denied fraud during his trial testimonyHe has been charged with diverting billions of dollars from his clients and investors.
Source: PhillyDailyNews - 🏆 89. / 67 Read more »