Key moments main as much as FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's trial

By Luc Cohen

(Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial, which is ready to kick off on Tuesday, marks the fruits of a yearlong authorized saga stemming from the dramatic collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency change he based.

Under is a timeline of key occasions main as much as the 31-year-old former billionaire’s trial.

2017

Bankman-Fried, a Massachusetts Institute of Expertise graduate, quits his job as a quantitative dealer at Jane Road Capital and launches Alameda Analysis, a buying and selling agency centered on cryptocurrency.

MAY 2019

Bankman-Fried and former Google (NASDAQ:) worker Gary Wang discovered FTX as a brand new platform to commerce crypto tokens and derivatives.

OCTOBER 2021

FTX raises $420 million in enterprise funding, valuing the corporate at $25 billion. Bankman-Fried debuts on the Forbes billionaires checklist, which estimates his web value at $22.5 billion. The journal’s evaluation of his wealth would rise to $26 billion by the tip of the yr.

FEBRUARY 2022

The NFL Tremendous Bowl’s broadcast is heavy on cryptocurrency commercials, signifying the peak of the craze for the booming asset class. FTX’s “Do not Miss Out” spot options actor Larry David, whose skepticism concerning the platform is portrayed as akin to an early human doubting the significance of the wheel.

JUNE-JULY 2022

Bankman-Fried emerges because the cryptocurrency sector’s so-called “white knight” amid a collapse within the costs of and different digital property. Alameda offers crypto lender Voyager Digital a $200 million credit score facility, and FTX offers lender BlockFi a $250 million mortgage.

NOV. 2, 2022

Crypto information web site CoinDesk publishes a leaked Alameda Analysis stability sheet displaying that a lot of its $14.6 billion in property is held in FTX’s personal token, referred to as FTT. The token subsequently sheds round $400 million of its market cap, and rival change Binance says it’ll promote its FTT holdings.

NOV. 8, 2022

After FTX sees $6 billion in buyer withdrawals in three days, Binance boss Changpeng Zhao says the corporate has signed a nonbinding settlement to purchase FTX’s non-U.S. unit. Binance scraps the deal the subsequent day.

NOV. 11, 2022

FTX information for U.S. chapter safety, and Bankman-Fried resigns as its chief govt officer.

NOV. 16, 2022

David and different FTX movie star promoters, together with NFL quarterback Tom Brady, are sued over claims they engaged in misleading practices. The celebrities have mentioned the go well with must be dismissed, arguing they didn’t trigger FTX traders’ losses.

DEC. 12, 2022

Bankman-Fried is arrested within the Bahamas, the place he lives and the place FTX is predicated. The U.S. Legal professional’s workplace in Manhattan later confirms {that a} federal grand jury has indicted him for fraud and conspiracy costs.

DEC. 21, 2022

Bankman-Fried leaves the Bahamas after agreeing to be extradited to america. Whereas he’s within the air, prosecutors reveal that Wang and Alameda chief govt Caroline Ellison have pleaded responsible and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.

DEC. 22, 2022

Bankman-Fried makes an preliminary look in Manhattan federal court docket and is launched to residence detention at his mother and father’ residence in Palo Alto, California, on $250 million bond.

JAN. 3-12, 2023

Bankman-Fried pleads not responsible and U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan schedules his trial for October. In a post-arrest weblog put up, Bankman-Fried denies stealing funds and blames FTX’s collapse on a broader downturn in crypto markets.

FEB. 28, 2023

Nishad Singh, the previous director of engineering at FTX, provides to the stress on Bankman-Fried by changing into the third former member of his inside circle to plead responsible to fraud costs and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors.

AUG. 11, 2023

Kaplan revokes Bankman-Fried’s bail after discovering possible trigger to consider he tampered with witnesses at the very least twice, together with by sharing Ellison’s personal writings with a New York Instances reporter. Bankman-Fried is remanded to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Heart pending trial.