Prosecutors argued during the trial that Bankman-Fried siphoned money from FTX to his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, despite proclaiming on social media and in television advertisements that the exchange prioritized the safety of customer funds.Īlameda used the money to pay its lenders and to make loans to Bankman-Fried and other executives - who in turn made speculative venture investments and donated upwards of $100 million to U.S.
Several crypto companies went bankrupt last year after the prices of bitcoin and other digital assets collapsed following a years-long boom. Bankman-Fried's was the first of several blockbuster cases Williams brought against former high-flying cryptocurrency executives to go to trial.
