Sam Bankman-Fried Trial Jury Reviews His Profane Messages About Regulators

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) – During the fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried on Wednesday, prosecutors presented jurors with a series of profane messages he sent to journalists that challenge the image he promoted as a supporter of cryptocurrency regulation.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan dismissed objections from Bankman-Fried’s legal team, allowing the jury in Manhattan federal court to view a vulgar message directed at a Vox reporter in the days following FTX’s collapse in November 2022. In the message, Bankman-Fried complained that regulators "make everything worse."

Jurors also examined a profanity-laden tweet sent to a journalist from The Block, where Bankman-Fried criticized U.S. lawmakers as "dumb" and claimed they were about to hand the industry over to SEC Chair Gary Gensler on a "silver platter." The SEC is often seen in the cryptocurrency community as more antagonistic than the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, another federal agency.

The trial, which commenced on October 3, sees Bankman-Fried accused of misappropriating billions in FTX customer funds for investments, political donations, and to support his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Prosecutors contend that his political contributions aimed to influence legislation in favor of the cryptocurrency sector.

The 31-year-old former billionaire has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy, and he faces the possibility of decades in prison if convicted.

Bankman-Fried’s attorneys attempted to prevent the introduction of the Vox messages, arguing they were "off-the-cuff" remarks made outside the trial’s relevant timeframe and that such language might bias the jury against him. However, prosecutor Danielle Sassoon argued for the admission of the messages, stating they were "highly probative" of Bankman-Fried’s genuine mindset at the time, noting that he later claimed his conversation with the reporter was meant to be off the record.

Ultimately, Vox published the messages, in which Bankman-Fried expressed that his earlier advocacy for cryptocurrency regulation was merely "just PR," referring to public relations.

Defense attorney Christian Everdell contended that the messages do not accurately reflect Bankman-Fried’s true intentions during his engagements with regulators.

Prosecutors have indicated they might conclude their case by October 26, while Bankman-Fried’s legal team has suggested that he is considering taking the stand in his own defense.