Tag: FTX

SBF seeks to probe FTX lawyers’ roles in $200M Alameda loans

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team is looking for permission to probe the alleged involvement of FTX lawyers in the issuance of $200 million worth of loans from Alameda that were approved by Gary Wang. As previously reported in the build-up to the highly anticipated trial, an Oct. 1 court ruling provisionally barred Bankman-Fried from apportioning blame to FTX lawyers who were allegedly involved in structuring and approving loans between Alameda and FTX. United States Judge Lewis Kaplan granted the government’s motion and ruled that Bankman-Fried’s legal team would have to request…

FTX hacker could be using SBF trial as a smokescreen: CertiK

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The hacker responsible for stealing over $400 million from FTX and FTX US in November could be using the hype around Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial to further obfuscate the funds, says CertiK’s director of security operations Hugh Brooks. Only days before the start of Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, the FTX hacker, known as “FTX Drainer,” began moving millions in Ether it had gained from the November attack. The movements have continued throughout the trial. In the last three days, the hacker transferred approximately 15,000 ETH (worth roughly $24 million) to three new wallet…

What to Expect When Caroline Ellison Takes Stand in FTX Founder’s Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial

Ellison was far from an unwitting front-person during her time at Alameda, said Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, in his opening argument in defense of Bankman-Fried. Instead, she was firmly in control of the reins at the trading fund – and her poor leadership, according to Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, is what ultimately placed the firm into dire financial straits. At one point, “as the majority owner of Alameda, Bankman-Fried spoke to Ms. Ellison, the CEO, and he urged her to put on a hedge,” Cohen told the jury. “She didn’t do…

FTX used Python code to fake its insurance fund figure: Gary Wang

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Crypto exchange FTX used hidden Python code to misrepresent the value of its insurance fund — a pool of funds meant to prevent user losses during huge liquidation events — according to testimony from FTX co-founder Gary Wang.  In a damning new testimony on Oct. 6, FTX’s former chief technology officer, Gary Wang, said that FTX’s so-called $100 million insurance fund in 2021 was actually fabricated, and also never actually contained any of the exchanges’ FTX tokens (FTT) as claimed. Instead, the figure shown to the public was calculated by…

What you need to know about FTX star witness Caroline Ellison

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, will enter its fifth day on Oct. 10 when one of the most anticipated witnesses takes the stand. Caroline Ellison was CEO at FTX’s sister firm, Alameda Research, as well as Bankman-Fried’s on-and-off-again girlfriend. The 28-year-old is expected to take the stand on Tuesday, picking up where another former Bankman-Fried confidant, Gary Wang, leaves off once his testimony concludes. Like Wang, Ellison was privy to most of the goings-on at Bankman-Fried’s once-thriving crypto conglomerate. The news of former Alameda…

FTX hacker switches strategy after THORSwap suspends service

The individual behind the 2022 attack on FTX has altered their strategy for laundering their stolen Ethereum into Bitcoin. On-chain analyst Lookonchain noticed on Oct. 6 that the person behind last year’s FTX hack had stopped using THORChain for moving their stolen assets and had begun to exploit the Threshold Network instead. Lookonchain’s data indicated that the attacker converted over 3,000 Ether (ETH), valued at $4.9 million, into tBTC via the Threshold network. Since then, per Lookonchain, the attacker has successfully converted about 75,636 ETH, valued at $124 million, into…

What to expect when FTX founder’s trial resumes for day 5

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial will resume for its fifth day on Oct. 10, with prosecutors expected to question his ex and former colleague, Caroline Ellison. The trial, which is set to last six weeks, will continue on Tuesday with key testimony expected from Ellison, who is regarded as a star witness to the goings-on at Alameda Research, where she held the title of CEO. Alameda, a sister firm to FTX, allegedly siphoned off $8 billion in customer money from FTX and used that cash for personal means. Ellison,…