Sam Bankman-Fried: who is the protagonist of the trial of the year

This Tuesday, October 3rd, the trial of the former capo will take place cryptocurrenciesSam Bankman-Fried in Manhattan court after the collapse of his FTX trading platform.

Prosecutors in the case will try to convince jurors that he defrauded both seasoned investment professionals and everyday traders by diverting billions of dollars of their money to make his own failed investments, buy real estate and other luxury items, and finance political campaigns.

Sam Bankman-Fried: who is he?

Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, is an American businessman and investor who has become one of the most influential and controversial figures in the world of cryptocurrencies. Founder and former CEO FTXBankman-Fried, one of the largest digital asset exchange platforms, has been accused by US authorities of several financial crimes, including fraud, money laundering and violation of election laws.

Bankman-Fried began her career in the financial sector working for Jane Street, a trading firm specializing in exchange-traded fund (ETF) arbitrage strategies. In 2017, he founded Alameda, a cryptocurrency trading company that took advantage of arbitrage opportunities in the digital market. Two years later, he created FTX, a platform that offered innovative services such as futures, options and leveraged tokens on cryptocurrencies.

The success of his business led him to accumulate luck is valued at $26 billion, according to Bloomberg, placing him among the world’s youngest billionaires.

However, Bankman-Fried’s career was tarnished by the charges she faced in the United States. On November 10, 2022, he was arrested in the Bahamas, where he had been living for several months, by federal agents who transported him to New York for his upcoming trial. Prosecutors have charged him with eight criminal charges related to the fraudulent handling of FTX funds and their illegal use to finance political campaigns. In addition, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil lawsuit against him for misleading investors and using company resources for his own purposes.

“Put over $40 million in 2022 campaign contributions; most went to Democrats and their affiliated committees. But Bankman-Fried has also made significant “dark” donations to Republican candidates and even suggested she could become the “second or third largest GOP donor” during the 2022 midterm election cycle, CBS News reported.

According to the New York Times. He even hired Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen, who were then married, to sell FTX in television commercials.

These allegations contributed to the collapse of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, leaving thousands of customers without access to their funds and fearful of their recovery. The crisis has also affected the cryptocurrency market as a whole, which has experienced a sharp decline in recent days.

Bankman-Fried denies the charges against him and pleads not guilty. His lawyer asked for bail and said his client would cooperate with authorities to prove his integrity.

Free love and drugs?

On a more intimate note, Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s general manager and his on-and-off lover, commented on some of Buckman-Fried’s eccentricities and his philosophies regarding free love and drugs. “Nothing short of regular amphetamine use will make you realize how stupid most normal, non-drug-induced human experiences are,” he wrote in his article. tweet From past.

Also mentioned in the media was his trip to the Bahamas with Ellison and eight other friends from FTX, where they lived in a penthouse that even Elon Musk called a “polycule,” that is, “a connected network of people and relationships, all of which are in agreement.” “In some way emotionally, sexually, or romantically involved with at least one other person.” The unorthodox cohabitation also reportedly included easy access to performance-enhancing drugs, and a staff psychiatrist was willing to prescribe prescription stimulants.