Sam Bankman-Fried Considered Buying Snapchat, Says Caroline Ellison

The post Sam Bankman-Fried Considered Buying Snapchat, Says Caroline Ellison appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

The most significant witness in the government’s case against Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, broke down when outlining the last hours of the crypto empire she helped create after more than nine hours of testimony over two days. 

Sam Wanted To Buy Snapchat

According to CNN, Ellison led the jury through some of her previous personal to-do lists that she kept on Google Docs during her trial on Wednesday. One of these lists was labeled “Things Sam is freaking out about,” which stated that she updated it frequently to stay on top of the topics Bankman-Fried was fixated on. 

Among the suggestions under that heading was “getting regulators to crack down on Binance,” which, according to Bankman-Fried, was one of the “best potential ways to improve FTX market share” by luring clients away from FTX’s main rival.  Additionally, there was “buying SNAP,” which, according to Ellison, was Bankman-Fried’s intention to purchase Snapchat’s parent business.  

This list included “raising funds from MBS,” the Saudi Arabian crown prince Mohammed bin Salman, and “to trade Japanese government bonds,” according to Inner City Press. 

Targeting Binance

The list made note of the desire to subject Binance to more stringent regulatory oversight. FTX deliberately tried to steer regulators toward Binance during its turbulent time. It is commonly known that Binance came close to concluding a deal to buy FTX.  

Fraudulently Getting Loans 

Ellison is currently in the middle of her second day of testimony against Bankman-Fried before a district court in New York. According to information from Inner City Press, she claimed Bankman-Fried instructed her to think of various ways to conceal billions in loans to Alameda Research’s balance sheets earlier in the day. 

Before meeting with Matt Ballensweig, co-head of trading and lending at the cryptocurrency lender Genesis, who had requested the most recent details on Alameda’s balance sheet, Ellison detailed what she and Bankman-Fried performed. Ellison explained that she had manipulated the numbers and created false transactions to make it appear as though the loans were legitimate investments. With this information, Ellison hoped to provide Ballensweig with a convincing explanation for Alameda’s balance sheet discrepancies. 

Feeling of Remorse

Ellison broke down during the trial, she claimed, even though it was “overall the worst week of my life” but also “the best mood I’ve been in in a year.” She told the jury through tears that she experienced an “overwhelming feeling of relief” because the time she had been waiting for had finally arrived. She claimed she no longer had to lie, even though she continued to feel “indescribably bad” for the victims “we betrayed.”