When SBF testified again in front of the jury, the topic of Solana and the interplay between the acquisition and the finances at Alameda Research came up.
The most recent incident that sparked people’s curiosity in the crypto industry is SBF’s evidence in his court case. Before his arrest in late 2022, the FTX, then-CEO and co-founder of Alameda Research, disclosed his actions, shedding additional light on his ongoing conspiracy and fraud trial.
The prosecution had been updating its case theory both before and throughout the trial, so Friday’s testimony from the crypto specialist was eagerly awaited. SBF’s evidence exposed his use of Alameda money, as well as his connections to high-profile CEOs who sought out his financial expertise.
On January 9, 2021, SBF famously posted on X (then known as Twitter) that they will acquire all Solana (SOL) Tokens for $3 each. On Friday the 27th of October, however, he testified that he had been investing in SOL since considerably earlier. The evidence indicated that SOL was repurchased by SBF at a price of $0.20 per share.
According to his responses to his lawyer’s questioning, Alameda Research provided the capital for this SOL transaction.
In addition, SBF claimed that the money came from Alameda’s earnings. In his testimony, SBF said, “I thought the money came from both Alameda’s operating profits and outside lenders.”
The SOL cryptocurrency was originally dubbed “Sam Coin” due to Bankman-Fried’s business operations and strong relationship with Solana. He had put a lot of money into Solana digital assets, including the projects tied to the cryptocurrency, before its value collapsed and he became bankrupt at the end of last year.
The Solana ecosystem was severely impacted by the collapse of a major exchange operator, and the cryptocurrency market has been attempting to recover ever then. This past Friday, Solana traded at $32, and as of this writing, the stock is valued at $31.76, with a 24-hour trading volume of $944 million.
The defense team also attempted to prove SBF had conducted thorough market research before to investing. Bankman-Fried’s attorney Mark Cohen said that his client had conducted enough research on FTX and Alameda before investing there. Federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon raised objections, and the prosecution did not pursue this avenue of appeal.
SBF’s evidence also showed the jury that, previous to his charges of fraud and conspiracy, he had declined to assist in high-profile instances. According to these analysts, he was the financial lifeline for a number of struggling businesses, including BlockFi and Voyager.
On Friday, SBF testified that FTX CEO Tim Draper had been approached by DCG CEO Barry Silbert for funding. The DCG CEO, according to the evidence, had requested equity funds to invest in Genesis, a DCG subsidiary, during the height of last year’s crypto bear rise.
Last year, Genesis lost a lot of its assets when the cryptocurrency hedge firm Three Arrows Capital went bankrupt. After FTX failed and trading services were discontinued in late 2022, DCG filed for bankruptcy.
According to SBF, the ex-CEO of FTX had also been approached for emergency cash by crypto exchange and lender Celsius. With a statement, he declined the offer. In July 2022, the lending company declared bankruptcy, followed by Voyager a few months later, just before the collapse of FTX, and then BlockFi, continuing the pattern after the collapse.
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