The high-profile trial of former FTX CEO Sam \u201cSBF\u201d Bankman-Fried kicked off on Oct. 3 with plenty of activity both inside and outside of the cramped Manhattan courtroom.<\/p>\n
Journalists, crypto influencers and other gawkers reportedly gathered in a media overflow room to take notes on the day\u2019s events. Here are some of the most colorful observations about the day.<\/p>\n
The defendant, Bankman-Fried, appeared noticeably leaner, according to multiple reports.<\/p>\n
Flanked by five defense lawyers, he was dressed in a navy suit that seemed bigger on him in previous appearances, and his signature unkempt curly locks were subbed for a shorter hairstyle.<\/p>\n
Unchained Crypto<\/em>\u2019s Laura Shin noted that Bankman-Fried was noticeably \u201cless jittery than normal.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI did not see him shake his leg at all,\u201d she said in an Oct. 3 podcast. <\/p>\n The only time he spoke was to say \u201cyes\u201d to the judge and occasionally look at the jurors. Other times, he conferred with his lawyers or was seen typing and scrolling on his air-gapped laptop.<\/p>\n SBF has spent the past seven weeks or so locked up at Brooklyn\u2019s Metropolitan Detention Center. When his lawyers unsuccessfully argued for his release, they claimed that he was subsisting on \u201cbread and water\u201d and lacking vegan meal options.<\/p>\n Crypto influencer Tiffany Fong said, \u201cHe kind of looks more criminal now.\u201d <\/p>\n The first day of the trial was described as feeling like \u201cthe first day of school,\u201d according to some journalists in attendance.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve never seen the courthouse like this,\u201d remarked an unnamed member of the press, according to The Slate.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile waiting to access the media overflow room, I spotted practically anyone and everyone who\u2019s had something to say about decentralized currency over the last few years,\u201d said The Slates\u2019 Nitish Pahwa.<\/p>\n He described it as a \u201ccrypto prom\u201d crammed with a hodgepodge of paid media participants, crypto influencers, obsessives, skeptics and more.<\/p>\n Cointelegraph reporter Ana Paula Pereira is also in attendance and will give daily updates on the most significant developments throughout the trial.<\/p>\n Judge Lewis B. Kaplan told the burgeoning crowd of potential jurors: \u201cYou are to do no research. You are not to read press coverage\u201d; however, he lightened up when it came to questioning the crowd, reported Cointelegraph.<\/p>\n Potential jurors were asked if they had prior knowledge about FTX and Alameda, with one saying they learned about it from The Joe Rogan Experience<\/em> podcast, according to a partial transcript from Inner City Press.<\/p>\n One juror said they worked with a company that invested in (and lost money on) FTX and Alameda. Another potential juror said:<\/p>\n \u201cI invested in crypto. I lost money.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n One juror shared that he wasn\u2019t sure if he could be unbiased with crypto:\u00a0\u201cI\u2019ve felt negatively about it since I learned about it.\u201d He was later dismissed from the pool of potential jurors.<\/p>\n Another juror even asked the judge what the potential sentence would be at its worst, noting they would not impose the death sentence, to which the judge answered: <\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ll get to it in a minute or two, and my answer will have to suffice. Anyone unwilling to accept that punishment is up to the court? No one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n At the end of the session, Judge Kaplan said, \u201cWe now have a sufficient group of qualified jurors, 50.\u201d He added that 18 people will be selected in total, 12 of whom will be jurors with six alternates.<\/p>\n He added that on the next day (Oct. 4), a microphone will be passed around for each juror to speak for a minute. \u201cThen the lawyers will confer, and the final selection will be made,\u201d he concluded.<\/p>\n An assistant U.S. attorney read out a list of potential witnesses. This included some expected names, such as former company executives Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Ryne Miller and Constance Wang; family members Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried; and even Anthony Scaramucci.<\/p>\n Several institutions were also listed, including Jane Street Capital, Sequoia Capital, BlockFi, Genesis, the Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan, Binance, Nexo, Guarding Against Pandemics (the nonprofit of SBF\u2019s brother) and Voyager Digital.<\/p>\n Judge Kaplan said that the trial was expected to take about six weeks, but he also noted that it could be over in a much shorter time.<\/p>\nJournalists, influencers and skeptics come to \u201ccrypto prom\u201d<\/h3>\n
Jurors get whittled down, and some share sad crypto stories<\/h3>\n
Scaramucci on potential witness list<\/h3>\n
Six-week trial expected<\/h3>\n