It’s been almost a year since the global crypto exchange FTX shattered and its founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried lost all credibility. This week, he will try to convince a jury of his peers that he deserves to be a free man again – but first, we’re going to hear from some of his closest friends.
The six-week trial will see prosecutors pore through testimonies, internal documents, emails and mountains of evidence certain to shed new light on the crypto exchange’s alleged theft of billions of dollars in customer funds. The most striking evidence could come from the prosecutors’ witnesses – those who Bankman-Fried once counted as his friends and allies.
Several of Bankman-Fried’s former colleagues and friends will testify against the one-time crypto mogul following plea deals they struck with the U.S. Department of Justice, including his former romantic partner Caroline Ellison and childhood friend Gary Wang, who were both deeply involved in the daily workings of both FTX and its quant-driven trading shop, Alameda Research. Another two individuals, who prosecutors have yet to publicly name, may testify if granted immunity, suggesting they may also be tied to the exchange. The DOJ also announced over the weekend that prosecutors intend to call former FTX customers from around the world and investors as witnesses during the trial.
Caroline Ellison
Caroline Ellison is among the most highly-anticipated witnesses expected to take the stand against Bankman-Fried. As the one-time head of Alameda Research – the crypto hedge fund tied to FTX – she can speak to the companies’ relationship and the amount of FTT it held, court documents indicate. Perhaps somewhat more salaciously, she also had a personal relationship with the FTX founder. She is said to be one of the few insiders who actually knew what was going on inside FTX.
Ellison, the child of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) economists, first met Bankman-Fried at their previous employer, the Wall Street-focused trading firm Jane Street. They reunited in October 2021 after Bankman-Fried convinced her to join his crypto company over a Bay Area coffee.
In a plea hearing shortly in December 2022, shortly after the collapse of FTX, Ellison admitted to knowingly misleading lenders and receiving “an unlimited line of credit without being required to post collateral” from FTX for her then-hedge fund Alameda Research, even though the company didn’t need the money.
Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud charges and signed a plea deal, sans criminal tax violations. Her insight into FTX and Alameda’s alleged comingling of customer funds could prove pivotal from the stand.
She is also thought to be the person that knows Bankman-Fried best on a personal level, given the nature of her romantic relationship with the former crypto mogul, which slowly fizzled out in February 2022, according her
