The former billionaire’s fraud trial stems from the dramatic collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency alternate he based.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, which kicked off on Tuesday within the United States, marks the fruits of a yearlong authorized saga stemming from the dramatic collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency alternate he based.
The trial, anticipated to final about six weeks, comes almost a yr after FTX’s collapse shocked markets and tattered Bankman-Fried’s fame. Selection of the panel of 12 jurors and 6 alternates is about to proceed on Wednesday, adopted by opening statements.
Here is a timeline of key occasions leading up to the 31-year-old former billionaire’s trial.
2017
Bankman-Fried, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate, quits his job as a quantitative dealer at Jane Street Capital and launches Alameda Research, a buying and selling agency targeted on cryptocurrency.
May 2019
Bankman-Fried and former Google worker Gary Wang discovered FTX as a brand new platform to commerce crypto tokens and derivatives.
October 2021
FTX raises $420m in enterprise funding, valuing the corporate at $25bn. Bankman-Fried debuts on the Forbes billionaires record, which estimates his internet price at $22.5bn. The journal’s evaluation of his wealth would rise to $26bn by the tip of the yr.
February 2022
The NFL Super Bowl’s broadcast is heavy on cryptocurrency ads, signifying the peak of the craze for the booming asset class. FTX’s “Don’t Miss Out” spot options actor Larry David, whose scepticism in regards to the platform is portrayed as akin to an early human doubting the significance of the wheel.
June-July 2022
Bankman-Fried emerges because the cryptocurrency sector’s so-called “white knight” amid a collapse within the costs of Bitcoin and different digital property. Alameda offers crypto lender Voyager Digital a $200m credit score facility, and FTX offers lender BlockFi a $250m mortgage.
November 2, 2022
Crypto information web site CoinDesk publishes a leaked Alameda Research stability sheet displaying that a lot of its $14.6bn in property is held in FTX’s personal token, referred to as FTT. The token subsequently sheds about $400m of its market cap, and rival alternate Binance says it’ll promote its FTT holdings.
November 8, 2022
After FTX sees $6bn in buyer withdrawals in three days, Binance boss Changpeng Zhao says the corporate has signed a nonbinding settlement to purchase FTX’s non-US unit. Binance scraps the deal the following day.
November 11, 2022
FTX recordsdata for US chapter safety, and Bankman-Fried resigns as its chief government officer.
November 16, 2022
David and different FTX superstar promoters, together with NFL quarterback Tom Brady, are sued over claims they engaged in misleading practices. The celebrities have mentioned the go well with must be dismissed, arguing they didn’t trigger FTX traders’ losses.
December 12, 2022
Bankman-Fried is arrested within the Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX relies. The US Attorney’s Office in Manhattan later confirms {that a} federal grand jury had indicted him for fraud and conspiracy costs.
December 21, 2022
Bankman-Fried leaves the Bahamas after agreeing to be extradited to the US. While he’s within the air, prosecutors reveal that Wang and Alameda chief government Caroline Ellison have pleaded responsible and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
December 22, 2022
Bankman-Fried makes an preliminary look in Manhattan federal court docket and is launched to dwelling detention at his mother and father’ dwelling in Palo Alto, California, on a $250m bond.
January 3-12, 2023
Bankman-Fried pleads not responsible and US District Judge Lewis Kaplan schedules his trial for October. In a post-arrest weblog publish, Bankman-Fried denies stealing funds and blames FTX’s collapse on a broader downturn in crypto markets.
February 28, 2023
Nishad Singh, the previous director of engineering at FTX, provides to the strain on Bankman-Fried by turning into the third former member of his inside circle to plead responsible to fraud costs and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.
August 11, 2023
Kaplan revokes Bankman-Fried’s bail after discovering possible trigger to consider he tampered with witnesses a minimum of twice, together with by sharing Ellison’s non-public writings with a New York Times reporter. Bankman-Fried is remanded to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center pending trial.
October 3, 2023
The trial kicks off in Manhattan with jury choice. Bankman-Fried’s father and brother, in addition to ex-President Donald Trump’s former spokesman Anthony Scaramucci, are amongst doable witnesses on the fraud trial, in accordance to an inventory learn by a prosecutor in court docket.
But there is no such thing as a assure they are going to testify throughout the trial, which is anticipated to final six weeks.
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