FTX founder admits ‘mistakes’ but testifies he didn’t defraud anyone

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, testifying in his own defense at his fraud trial on Friday, said a “lot of people got hurt” when the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed last year, but insisted he did not defraud anyone or steal billions of dollars from customers.

Bankman-Fried fielded questions from his own lawyer in his first day of testimony with jurors present, admitting to making “mistakes” such as not putting in place a risk-management team while also seeking to lay blame on Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of his crypto-focused Alameda Research hedge fund who was a key witness for the prosecution.

The 31-year-old former billionaire’s answers conformed to his long-standing position that he overlooked some aspects of his business as an entrepreneur building a fast-growing company from scratch but never set out to steal from people.