The trial will finish with closing arguments on Wednesday earlier than the jury deliberates
As Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand for the final time in his trial for fraud and cash laundering, his primary lawyer, Mark Cohen, returned to query him on plenty of themes that prosecutors touched on up to now few days. However this time, he took a unique method, presenting the defendant as an individual who was performing in good religion.
“We lived and died by having a greater product than rivals,” Bankman-Fried mentioned of his now-bankrupt crypto change, FTX. Bankman-Fried owned majority stakes in each FTX and its sister buying and selling agency, Alameda Analysis, however insisted he needed one of the best for each.
Bankman-Fried has been testifying since Thursday afternoon, and the prosecution has grilled him for the previous few days as a part of their cross-examination. On Tuesday, when the protection legal professionals returned to re-examine him, he was swaying barely on the stand, shoulders drawn down and ahead. He spoke softly, however was extra talkative than earlier within the day and on Monday when he was being questioned.
Opposite to the image prosecutors tried to color, Bankman-Fried insisted that he was not concerned within the day-to-day buying and selling operations of Alameda or its “core operations,” however as an alternative emphasised his concern for its management on the time, saying he needed to be concerned in a lot of its enterprise investments, choices on hedging, and different areas.