“Mr. Wang, could you slow down?” Judge Lewis Kaplan told him.
FTX Chief Technology Officer and Sam Bankman-Fried’s college roommate Zixiao Gary Wang took the stand on Thursday to narrate how he and other SBF close associates committed financial crimes that crashed FTX.
FTX CTO testifies
The response to Wang being questioned about wire fraud charges and the nature of the activities of SBF’s circle was met with fast pace of speech and disturbing revelations.
“Mr. Wang, could you slow down?” Judge Lewis Kaplan told him.
In his testimony, Wang exposed what many had speculated to be true: that Alameda Research had unlimited access to customer funds on the FTX exchange.
He revealed that despite other market makers often having millions rather than billions, Alameda had withdrawn $8 billion from FTX and had a $65 billion line of credit.
Wang asserted: “We allowed Alameda to withdraw unlimited funds.”
Wang, who helped start the cryptocurrency exchange and was pals with SBF since high school, reportedly disclosed that he made $200k annually with 17% stake in FTX while SBF held 65%. 90% of Alameda was still owned by SBF, and the remaining 10% belonged to Wang.
“It withdrew so much that FTX was not able to repay customers who were trying to withdraw,” Wang said.
Judge Kaplan enquired as to where these Alameda privileges were located. Moreover, how they were able to happen despite FTX’s purported security measures. Wang only said it was “in the code.”
Read more: Opening Arguments: SBF lied to the world, his girlfriend was his Bonnie
Alameda “Research” was intentionally named
He testified that SBF had intentionally chosen the name Alameda Research, specifically choosing “Research” for its connotations professionally. He noted that because everyone liked research, SBF thought it was most appropriate.
He also thought banks would be more willing to open account for Alameda rather than it being named something related to cryptocurrency like “Shitcoin Daytraders Inc.”
The prosecution also showed photographs and played podcast snippets to further buttress their case.
Wang is expected to continue his testimony on Friday.
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