
The collapse of FTX's cryptocurrency exchange erased around $1 billion in customer funds and is frequently compared to high-profile frauds like Enron and Bernie Madoff's Ponzi scheme.
Federal prosecutors told jurors this week that founder and former CEO Sam Bankman Fried's power and influence was built on lies, saying he stole billions from thousands of customers and only his friends and girlfriend Caroline Ellison knew the truth about what was happening. The Wall Street Journal reported that some U.S. employees of FTX discover the backdoor that Alameda Research used to withdraw billions of dollars in customer funds months before the exchange collapsed.
FOX Business notes that Bankman-Fried appeared to have had a haircut and was dressed in a gray suit. He was the only person on his table with a laptop.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency by market value, fell below $16,000 in the weeks leading to FTX's collapse and has since clawed back to the $27,000-$29,000 level.
The former CEO of FTX sister firm Alameda, Ellison, was once Bankman-Fried's girlfriend and later was one of his roommates in the $300 million Bahamas property.
Her ex-boyfriend, whom she married in 2000, is now expected to play the role of a star witness against her former lover.
Her parents are teachers at MIT, and Ellison is a graduate of Stanford University.
Bankman-Fried met him at Jane Street Capital, a trading firm. Like Ellison, Bankman-Fried was taught by professors, and the pair adopted the philosophy of 'effective altruism', which involves funding large amounts of money to support philanthropic endeavors that benefit society to the greatest extent possible. reportedly, the two were involved in an on-and-off relationship.
According to the Wall Street Journal, Alameda was a significant trader in the cryptocurrency industry. Although Bankman-Fried was founder and majority owner of Alameda, he eventually resigned and focused mainly on his role as the chief executive of FTX. FTX boasted a value of roughly $32 billion and was the world's third-largest cryptocurrency exchange by volume at its peak.
In October 2021, Ellison was with Sam Trabucco.
Bankman-Fried's parents, Barbara and Joseph, are law professors at Stanford University and are expected to play a crucial role in the trial. Last month FTX filed a lawsuit alleging that they'sexually transferred and misappropriated' millions of dollars through their advisory roles at the exchange.
Some of the funds were directed to the political action committee connected to Fried. The parents also received a deed to a Bahamas property.
The details were compiled as part of FOX Business's monitoring of the trial and testimony this week.
prior to Brady and Bundchen's very public divorce, the two starred in a TV commercial for FTX. Brady was also a speaker at a crypto conference and was paid millions by Bankman-Fried.
In an interview that aired Sunday, author Michael Lewis said.