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Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers are pushing for the jury to weigh English law in FTX’s terms of service, aiming to dismiss some fraud charges against the exchange founder. Legal representatives for Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, have submitted a new filing in an attempt to persuade the jury to consider the influence of English law on the company’s terms of service. The Oct. 30 filing, which includes a proposed jury instruction, states that according to the Government’s theory, a trust, fiduciary relationship, or similar bond must exist between FTX and its customers for misappropriation to have occurred. The suggested jury instruction informs the 12 jurors determining Bankman-Fried’s outcome that FTX’s customer relations are dictated by its Terms of Service, which are governed by English law. Additional filings offer UK case examples for reference. You might also like: SBF trial day 14: FTX’s Bankman-Fried blame...

Prosecutors called FTX general counsel Can Sun to the stand following financial forensics and evidence of internal communications potentially implicating Sam Bankman-Fried in criminal wrongdoing at his crypto exchange and trading firm, Alameda Research. Expert testimonies from a Notre Dame Alumni and an FBI analyst in United States v Sam Bankman-Fried provided more details as to what happened at FTX. Bank statements detailed transactions from Alameda to personal accounts and super PACs, almost certainly financed with FTX customer crypto. Bankman-Fried’s Twitter DMs entered as trial exhibits highlighted profanity-filled remarks aimed at regulators and rivals in the days after FTX declared bankruptcy.  FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried with journalist Kelsey Piper | Source: Vox Billions poured from user balances on FTX into loan repayments and real estate buys in the Bahamas. At least one of these properties had the defendant’s parents Joseph Bankman and ...

According to research firm PitchBook data, venture capitalists invested $2 billion in crypto during Q3, 2023. Venture capitalists seem to slow down their investments in the crypto market as global crypto funding during the third quarter of 2023 hit the lowest level over the past few years. In Q3, investors around the globe put only $2 billion in crypto projects, representing a 63% decline from the same period in 2022, Bloomberg reports, referring to data from PitchBook. Global crypto venture funding | Source: PitchBook As noted by PitchBook analyst Robert Le, the market is no longer seeing the big deals anymore, adding that their size is “one of the drivers of the decline.” “If they’re not able to raise a round, even a down round, they’re either going to go out of business or get acquired at a valuation that’s much, much lower.” Rober Le, PitchBook analyst Le noted the market is likely to stay in this negative trend for a while due t...

Prager Metis, one of the auditors that took care of the books for FTX — and had office space in the metaverse — has had a complaint filed against it for failing to follow rules for certified public accountants. These include getting indemnification clauses so that it wasn’t legally bound to the audits, attestations, and reviews it was providing. During this time, the accounting firm took in millions of dollars from dozens of different engagements that were improperly conducted, and while this spells bad news for Prager Metis, it could imply that a far bigger shoe has yet to drop for the accounting industry as a whole. The SEC is moving against auditors This action against Prager Metis isn’t the first time the government regulator has taken on an audit or this year. In June, the SEC settled with Marcum LLP over its “control deficiencies” in regard to SPACs (Special Purpose Acquisition Companies). Marcum took on roughly 600 different SPACs as their audit or, with 2...

Huobi has re brand ed to HTX, raising public scrutiny due to alleged similarities to the failed FTX exchange. Crypto exchange Huobi has set the crypto world abuzz by announcing its shift to a new identity, HTX. This move coincides with the platform’s tenth anniversary. But the switch hasn’t been without its detractors. Market players and social media users are drawing uneasy parallels between HTX and the bankrupt FTX exchange, whose founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is embroiled in numerous legal disputes related to fraudulent activities. pic.twitter.com/VAPPNq12rp — S. Goodman (@saulgoodz) September 14, 2023 What does HTX mean?  HTX’s renaming carries layered meanings that reflect the organization’s vision. Each letter is an acronym for various aspects of the company’s operations and collaborations. ‘H’ symbolizes Huobi, preserving the legacy of its original name. ‘T’ signifies a partnership with Justin Sun’s blo...

Lawyers of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried say that a lack of sufficient WiFi and jail delays are hindering his ability to prepare for his upcoming court trial and he should therefore be granted pre-trial release. The court filing from September 8 is the second pre-trial release request Bankman-Fried has sought in the past week. Lawyers argued that although the curly-haired former billionaire was promised access to a laptop and a hard drive from 8am to 7pm on weekdays, that hasn’t been the reality. Jail proceedings like inmate head counts have shed hours of prep time already, they said. According to the filing, Bankman-Fried was held up from visiting rooms for two hours due to another inmate. Once he arrived, he wasn’t allowed to use his laptop without lawyers present, despite assurances that he would be. Additionally, once he did get access to the laptop , the internet was so slow that it took “10 minutes for the home page to load.” After an ent...

Aditya Baradwaj, a former employee of Alameda Research, has come forward with allegations regarding his time working for FTX. Baradwaj took to social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) on Aug. 23 to share his account of his experience at the company, shedding light on the tumultuous months that followed the collapse of FTX. As an engineer at Alameda Research, I had my entire life savings stolen from me by my former boss: Sam Bankman-Fried. Now, after months of recuperation from the craziness of the FTX collapse , I’m ready to tell my story . Let’s start at the beginning: (1/25) #SBF #FTX pic.twitter.com/x5wKvT0Dy2 — Adi (e/acc) (@aditya_baradwaj) August 23, 2023 “Now, after months of recuperation from the craziness of the FTX collapse , I’m ready to tell my story ,” the former Alameda Research employee declared. Recalling his early days at Alameda, Baradwaj described the firm as a “small, mysterious crypto trading firm” with only min...

Disgraced crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial is set to commence on October 2, when he’ll face a variety of charges that could see him receiving a life sentence. The former FTX chief has been no stranger to the spotlight ever since the crypto exchange spectacularly crashed at the end of 2022. Although currently on house arrest, Bankman-Fried may soon be transferred to jail for breaking bail conditions. From the confines of his parents’ Palo Alto home, he’s been accused of serious crimes including witness tampering and rug-pulling. It’s hard to keep up. Take a dive into the most important updates from the past week. August 7: Sino Global files $67M claim against FTX Matthew Graham’s Sino Global has filed a $67.3 million claim against FTX Trading on behalf of the firm’s crypto investment fund, which was launched in 2021 with FTX listed as a “co-GP and anchor LP” in the fundraising. Sino Global’s Liquid fund aimed to raise $200 million. As...

The FTX saga continues to take center stage, even though it has been months since the collapse. From Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest to his bail and the conditions, SBF remained the topic of discussion. Once again, the former FTX chief was making headlines as a U.S. judge was discussing SBF’s bail conditions all over again. SBF currently faces 12 counts after last month’s addition of fresh fraud and conspiracy allegations by the prosecution. On the first eight charges, he entered a not-guilty plea in January 2023. SBF attorneys stated this in a letter to Kaplan on Wednesday. In addition to the fresh allegations, they could want more time than anticipated to analyze the available material and put up a response. Therefore, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will decide if the fraud trial that is scheduled for Oct. 2 will go as planned or be pushed back. Amidst this, other individuals involved in the case could be taken off the case. Shaquille O’Neal, a form...