The government's highly anticipated star witness in the six-week trial of Bankman-Fried is Ellison, 28. She was the CEO of Alameda Research, the hedge fund prosecutors say stolen billions of dollars from customers of its sister company, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
In this case, the prosecutor began questioning Ellison by asking her if she committed crimes and if so, who she committed them with.
She said she had committed them at the direction of Bankman-Fried, which pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges last year.
'' Those balances look less risky to investors,'' she said, also testifying that Alameda had taken funds from FTX to make its own investments.
Ellison also spoke of the 'essentially unlimited' line of credit Alameda had at FTX. She said Bankman-Fried was the one who set up these systems.
Her proximity to bankman-fried's business and personal lives is almost certain to give the jury its closest look yet at the decision-making that led to FTX's epic collapse last November. She has been working with the government since December, when she pled guilty to an array of financial crimes stemming from her time in Alameda.
Later Tuesday or Wednesday, Bankman-Fried's defense team will likely cross-examine Ellison with an eye toward discrediting her. In his opening arguments, lead lawyer Mark Cohen said Ellison ignored instructions from Bankman-Fried to place hedges on Alameda's trading that could have staunched some of its bleeding.
The judge followed up, questioning if there were occasions where Bankman-Fried wanted to invest in companies but had someone else do it. Wang said he had to cut himself short before cutting himself off.