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The courtroom was abuzz as Day 15 of the Bankman-Fried trial hit its midday break, leaving everyone in anticipation until 1:45 p.m. But the morning session delivered a gripping exchange between the defendant and the prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, as she skillfully uncovered a web of inconsistencies in Bankman-Fried's narrative.

Day 15 of Bankman-Fried's Trial: Unraveling the Web of Influence

Danielle Sassoon launched the government's cross-examination by reminding the jury of Bankman-Fried's majority ownership in both FTX and Alameda, stressing the influence he wielded. Bankman-Fried, who had previously downplayed his involvement with Alameda, was forced to concede that he occasionally discussed trades with Alameda's top employees. The prosecutor pointed out that his influence extended to matters like hedging, a form of trading.

Bankman-Fried's responses, once evasive, had now transformed into simple "yep" affirmations, hinting at potential concern for what lay ahead.

A Billion-Dollar Catastrophe

Bankman-Fried's direct testimony ended with a startling revelation: FTX's financial troubles began escalating as cryptocurrency prices plummeted, facing attacks from competitors like Binance and a leaked Alameda balance sheet. On November 6, 2022, FTX witnessed a shocking withdrawal of $1 billion, ten times more than any previous day. The situation was grim, prompting the now-infamous "Assets are fine" Tweet on November 7, which was deleted the following day as the extent of the financial disarray became evident.

Bankman-Fried revealed that FTX co-founder Gary Wang was frantically coding to assist customers, while Nishad Singh, FTX's engineering chief, was contemplating suicide, reaching out to those who offered help. The defendant also sought financial lifelines from Binance and Apollo, to no avail.

On November 12, after declaring bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried began working with Bahamian regulators to aid in any way possible, and in December, he spoke to journalists in an effort to explain his side of the story.

Day 15 of Bankman-Fried's Trial: The Unaware Architect of a Crisis

Bankman-Fried's testimony underscored his focus on expanding FTX's transaction processing capacity, ensuring accurate accounting, and preventing fraudulent transactions throughout 2022. His narrative aimed to bolster the defense's claim of his unawareness regarding the massive sums being drained from FTX by Alameda. In mid-2022, a drop in cryptocurrency prices led Bankman-Fried to push for hedges to protect the company from further market shocks, which was met with a tearful agreement from Caroline Ellison, then-Alameda CEO. Although she offered to step down, she didn't follow through, and Alameda added more hedge trades.