
The selection of jury selection in FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial is expected to continue until a second day, with the pool of qualified jurors now narrowed to 50 from which 12 will be selected by Wednesday morning.
For reasons that might biased their opinion on the former crypto mogul's innocence, several potential jurors reappear. For some, this bias came from losing money in crypto-something FTX's collapse greatly exacerbated last year.
Zal Dang, 57, said he didn't know he could remain unbiased in a crypto-related case. I've felt negatively about it since I learned about it, he told Inner City Press.
Judge Lewis Kaplan asked if any were familiar with FTX or its sister hedge fund Alameda Research, noting that the case would revolve around 'crypto' and 'blockchain'. Two of them admitted to having invested in the asset class only to lose money.
Some of the other candidates also disclosed more peripheral career ties to the broader financial industry. One claimed to work with the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, another with Bank United, and another with Morgan Stanley - a bank once bullish on collapsed crypto bank Silvergate, which was deeply entrenched with FTX.
Kaplan said the exchange's collapse had caused a lot of public attention and warned jurors to avoid all media coverage of the trial. When asked if they were familiar with any of the major names connected to the bankruptcy-- including Silvergate, Anthony Scaramucci, Caroline Elison, and others-one juror said she had worked for the fallen bank.
SBF is accused of fraud and conspiracy, including defrauding his customers by lending their deposits to Alameda without their permission.
Experts contacted by Decrypt last week didn't like his chances of acquittal, given the powerful witness testimony and evidence already amassed by prosecutors. However, others said that the juror's lack of understanding of crypto could create enough uncertainty to make the jury hesitate before convicting the exchange founder.
''T know what the prosecution's talking about,' said Brian Newman, a lawyer at Dykema Gossett's law firm.
When one juror said he didn't understand crypto well, Judge Kaplan wasn't so sympathetic.