Bankman-Fried Takes the Stand, Tweets Catch Up With Him

Sam Bankman-Fried’s risky decision to take the stand in the fraud and conspiracy trial against him led to a tough line of questioning on Monday from Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon. It had a key focus: did the former CEO of FTX lie to investors, customers, the public, and even legislators?

He doesn’t remember promising safe trading

In response to one of Sassoon’s inquiries, Bankman-Fried said he did not remember promising FTX users safe trading on his exchange or any other protection, for that matter. His answers regarding the role of Alameda Research were evasive as well.

Public and private statements diverged

Sassoon cornered the FTX founder on his public statements numerous times, made both before and after FTX collapsed. The statements involved Alameda and the safety of FTX customer funds.

She was able to show that what Bankman-Fried had said in private diverged from his public statements, whether on the strength of his exchange’s risk engine or the role of regulators. The engine was a crucial tool, which could have liquidated shaky positions to prevent major losses.

A deep disdain for regulators

The former CEO of FTX seemed to have a deep disdain for regulators, although he supported drafting crypto regulation to protect users, at least publicly. Sassoon asked him if he could remember his previous tweets on his support of blockchain regulation to protect customers. He replied that he couldn’t.

Sassoon asked if he had ever retorted “fuck regulators” in private. He responded he had said that once. He added that he perceived a group of people on Crypto Twitter as “dumb motherfuckers.”

Safety first?

About half an hour after the proceedings opened, Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried if he had ever said FTX’s international platform was “safe” compared to other crypto exchanges. She helped jog his memory, bringing up a tweet from August 2022: “As always, our user funds and safety come first.”