Unchained

Welcome to The Chopping Block — where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with Ogle Crypto, a veteran negotiator in crypto hacks, to discuss the recent KyberSwap exploit, which involved an almost $50 million loss across various chains. Ogle shares how he initially became a negotiator, including his first case in which he tracked down a group of hackers from Hong Kong when they fled to Great Britain after stealing $24 million in funds. Ogle also shares his negotiation tactics, the typical profile of hackers he encounters today and his empathetic approach towards these often young and financially struggling individuals. Then the group raises concerns around the hype and marketing strategies of Blast, a new Layer 2 on Ethereum offering “native yields” that achieved $620 million of TVL in less than two weeks. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: How KyberSwap's sophisticated security was breached, resulting in an almost $50 million loss across various blockchain networks. Why Tarun suspects the behind-the-scenes workings of an organized group, rather than a lone attacker, in the KyberSwap incident. The evolution of crypto hacks towards more systematic and professional negotiations with hackers. Ogle's journey into the world of crypto hack negotiations, highlighted by a fascinating case of pinpointing hackers who had fled Hong Kong. Ogle's strategic approach to negotiating with hackers, balancing empathy and tactical communication. Profiling the typical hackers in these scenarios, focusing on their youth, origins, and backgrounds. Ogle's perspective on why he often finds a sense of understanding towards these young, misguided hackers. Assessing the crypto industry's response to white hat hackers: Are they adequately rewarded for safeguarding the digital frontier? The curious surge of investments into Blast, Ethereum's new Layer 2 contender, amidst swirling concerns and skepticism. Robert's take on why the Blast phenomenon could signal a troubling trend, surpassing the chaos of 2017, paralleled by Tarun's analogy to a “decentralized Herbalife.” Were Blast’s marketing tactics misleading or merely overly optimistic? Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Guest Ogle Crypto, Crypto sleuth and negotiator Links Hacks Unchained: $48 Million Drained from KyberSwap in Hack Kyberswap’s hacker latest message HackerNoon: Mark Cuban's Bane: How Iron Finance's $TITAN Crypto Crashed From $60 to $0 Cointelegraph: KyberSwap hacker offers $4.6M bounty for return of $46M loot Blast Unchained: Blast Surges to $300M TVL, Rapidly Gaining on Top Ethereum L2s Amid Concerns DefiLlama: Blast TVL Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Vivek Ramaswamy is likely the biggest supporter of crypto among the current crop of presidential candidates. But his enthusiasm comes not from an inherent love of the technology or its principles themselves, but a dissatisfaction with what he calls the “administrative state” that’s stifled innovation in a number of important industries, crypto among them. On this episode of Unchained, Ramaswamy discusses his radical plan to slash the number of people working at federal agencies; his three-point crypto policy plan based on the freedom to code as a protected form of expression, the freedom of financial self-reliance, and the freedom to innovate free from regulatory overreach; why the current orientation of the U.S. government towards regulation of the crypto industry by enforcement isn’t helping anyone; his plans to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities that could eventually include Bitcoin; why he’s so opposed to central bank digital currencies; and what industries he thinks could benefit from the use of blockchain technology. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Pandora, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how Vivek, who has a background in biotech, fell down the “crypto rabbit hole” how the administrative branch of government doesn't work like it's supposed to, according to Vivek why he believes the government poses a threat to the future of crypto how he would respond to a situation in which the code of a smart contract is exploited how Vivek would prevent the use of crypto for illicit ends why he thinks that the current status quo in terms of crypto regulation is the “worst of all worlds” Vivek’s plan to stabilize the U.S. dollar by pegging it to a basket of commodities, potentially including Bitcoin why he is so against the creation of a central bank digital currency in the U.S. how blockchain technology can be used to help the U.S. maintain its technological supremacy Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guest Vivek Ramaswamy, 2024 U.S. Presidential Candidate Vivek on The Chopping Block: Why Vivek Ramaswamy Wants Less Crypto Regulation Links Original speech unveiling his crypto policy plan at the North American Blockchain Summit 2023 Unchained: GOP Candidate Vivek Ramaswamy Makes the Case for Reduced Crypto Regulation Bloomberg: Ramaswamy’s Crypto Deregulation Plan Is Scaring the Industry CoinDesk: Ramaswamy Shares Crypto Plan, Making Him the Only GOP Candidate Who Has One Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IRS sparked a storm of controversy when it released proposed new rules for crypto transaction reporting earlier this year. The new rules seek to define who is considered a broker, what types of transactions need to get reported, and the kinds of digital assets that need to be included, but many in the industry consider them overly broad and ultimately unworkable. Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase, and Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at tax software firm CoinTracker, discuss the crypto industry’s specific objections to the proposed new rules, and what might be a better way forward. They also delve into how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs, potential blockchain-based solutions for the reporting requirements, and what the likely outlook and timeline for the proposals to come into effect are. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the newly proposed IRS regulations around crypto are and when they are likely to go into effect what entities qualify as a broker and why this may pose a problem what the implications for the industry are if these regulations were passed the number of additional reports the IRS is expecting to receive if these regulations are adopted how the regulations would apply to stablecoins and NFTs what the five types of brokers are under the proposed regulations and the three types that they exclude, according to Shehan the unprecedented amount of comments submitted what suggestions Coinbase and CoinTracker have in mind for better tax regulation why Lawrence thinks that DeFi exchanges should be treated the same as centralized ones whether people should have privacy concerns about the new proposals what some blockchain-based solutions for tax reporting are, such as attestation tokens what the next steps for the IRS proposed regulation are how long it will take to actually implement these regulations Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Shehan Chandrasekera, Head of Tax Strategy at CoinTracker Lawrence Zlatkin, VP of Tax at Coinbase Links Previous coverage of Unchained on crypto taxes, with appearances from Shehan and Lawrence: Everything You Need to Know About Filing Your 2022 Crypto Taxes Your 2021 Crypto Taxes: How to Handle NFTs, DAOs, Airdrops and More Everything You Need to Know About Your 2020 Crypto Taxes Why You Shouldn’t Trust Crypto Exchange Reports for Your Taxes The IRS Is Cracking Down on Crypto Taxes: What You Need to Know Could the Bank Secrecy Act Harm Crypto? Coin Center Thinks So Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (117th Congress) Proposed rule: IRS proposed rule text: Gross Proceeds and Basis Reporting by Brokers and Determination of Amount Realized and Basis for Digital Asset Transactions U.S. Department of the Treasury, IRS Release Proposed Regulations on Sales and Exchanges of Digital Assets by Brokers CoinDesk: How the Crypto Industry Responded to the IRS Proposed Broker Rule Twitter thread from Ji Kim of Crypto Council for Innovation CNBC: President Joe Biden to sign the bipartisan infrastructure bill⁠ into law—here's how crypto investors will be impacted IRS issues guidance, seeks comments on nonfungible tokens Coinbase first comment letter Coinbase second comment letter CoinTracker comment letter Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tiffany Fong has had an unusual route to crypto fame. After losing most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy, she began posting on YouTube about her experiences and eventually received some leaked documents, which she shared with The New York Times and on her channel. The leaks gave her some visibility, and that’s when Sam Bankman-Fried began following her on Twitter. Fong unexpectedly managed to carve out a relationship with the one-time crypto mogul, and after he was arrested last November, she chatted often and even met with him while he was under house arrest. From there, she became known for posting details of her conversations with Bankman-Fried and documents he shared with her, and went on to attend every day of his trial in person and do videos on them. On this episode of Unchained, Fong shares why she thinks SBF opened up to her, whether she ever had a romantic relationship with him, her unpleasant encounter with Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother at the trial, why she doesn’t really consider herself a crypto influencer, and what her plans are now that the trial is over. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what Tiffany did before getting into crypto how Tiffany lost most of her life savings in the Celsius bankruptcy and how that jumpstarted her journey into the content creation space how she got in touch with Sam Bankman-Fried and got him to speak with her after FTX’s collapse the conversations Tiffany had with SBF during his house arrest Tiffany's response to the rumors about a romantic relationship with SBF how Tiffany reacted to the DOJ reaching out to her for information before the SBF trial why she decided to go to the courtroom every day during the SBF trial Tiffany’s unpleasant encounter with SBF's mom, Barbara Fried how Tiffany feels about crypto, and why she doesn’t consider herself a "crypto influencer" what Tiffany’s career plans are now that the SBF trial is over Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Phemex Guest Tiffany Fong, Crypto content creator Links Unchained: RollingStone: The Crypto Whistleblower at the Center of the Sam Bankman-Fried Storm Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang breaks down the record $4.3 billion settlement between Binance and the U.S. government — whether it was fair, the chances CEO Changpeng Zhao will face any jail time, whether it was ultimately a good thing for Binance and for the U.S., and what this changes for the industry going forward. They also delve into the SEC’s lawsuit against Kraken, and the drama around Sam Altman’s firing from Open AI and what it says about corporate governance and crypto companies. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: the details of the settlement between Binance and the Department of Justice how a core part of Binance’s business model was to allow bad actors on its platform, according to Robert why Binance had to settle with the U.S. government even though it's not an American company why Tom believes that the settlement represents a "very bad lesson" whether U.S. market makers should be liable in cases like these how the crypto community has reacted to the settlement what the settlement means for the future of the crypto industry whether the new SEC lawsuit against Kraken is just a “copy-and-paste” of its suit against Coinbase The drama around Sam Altman’s removal from his role as CEO of OpenAI Why Robert thinks that the OpenAI board was “silly and dumb” What the problems at OpenAI say about its innovative governance structure Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Binance Settlement Unchained: Binance to Pay $4.3 Billion to Settle U.S. DOJ Criminal Probe; CEO Changpeng Zhao Pleads Guilty for Violating Bank Secrecy Act Binance CEO CZ Released on $175 Million Bond SEC Charges Against Kraken Unchained: Crypto Exchange Kraken Accused by SEC of Violating Securities Law OpenAI The Verge: Sam Altman returns as CEO of OpenAI Unchained: Worldcoin Falls and Rises After Sam Altman-OpenAI Saga Haseeb’s tweet on accelerationism Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to surveys of financial advisors, only 12% are currently recommending that clients invest in Bitcoin, while 47% of advisors personally own Bitcoin and a whopping 77% say they are waiting for a spot Bitcoin ETF to become available so they can offer it to their clients. On this episode of Unchained, Ric Edelman, founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals and author of “The Truth About Crypto,” explains how this should all lead to high demand once the first spot Bitcoin ETFs become available, although it will take some time for them to allocate. Edelman also discusses how FTX’s implosion impacted advisor perceptions of crypto, why investors have not been that excited by crypto futures ETFs, and which Bitcoin ETF issuers he believes are likely to be the big winners. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how regulatory confusion keeps financial advisors away from recommending Bitcoin to their clients how the collapse of FTX affected financial advisors’ interest in crypto, according to Ric how the knowledge level of financial advisors about Bitcoin is "extraordinarily low" why 77% of investment advisors are willing to buy a spot Bitcoin ETF why there wasn't a huge interest from advisors after the launch of Bitcoin futures ETFs the percentage of client portfolios that he expects they will allocate to BTC why Ric thinks there won't be huge inflows immediately after the approval of spot BTC ETFs how financial advisors will decide whose ETF to buy, among the 12 potential issuers why he believes spot Ethereum ETFs have great growth potential why he thinks tokenization might be the "next big thing" that will increase institutional activity Take the Unchained 2023 survey! Unchained is doing its annual survey. Let us know what we’re doing well, how we can improve, what you’d like to see more of, and generally, how we can serve you better. The survey also helps us find sponsors whose products and services would appeal to you. Plus, participating gives you an opportunity to win Unchained merch! Five randomly selected respondents will receive one free Unchained t-shirt or mug — your choice. Click here to participate. Thanks so much! https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/unchained2023 Thank you to our sponsors! LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Ric Edelman, Founder of the Digital Assets Council of Financial Professionals Previous appearance on Unchained: Financial Advisors Control $5 Trillion in Investor Wealth. Are They Buying Bitcoin? Links Previous coverage on spot Bitcoin ETFs: How Much Money Will Flow Into Bitcoin ETFs? Here’s One Projection Why a Spot Bitcoin ETF Will Probably Launch No Later Than January 10 Why It Looks Like BlackRock Could Win America’s First Spot Bitcoin ETF The Chopping Block: Are We Back? The 'Low IQ' Response to the Potential Spot Bitcoin ETF Unchained: BlackRock Files for Spot Ethereum ETF The Bitcoin ETF Is a Double-Edged Sword Bitcoin ETFs Explained: What Are They & How Do They Work? CoinDesk: BlackRock Bitcoin ETF in August Got on DTCC Site That Just Belatedly Moved Markets Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center, explains why the IRS's proposed broker rule for tax reporting in crypto could harm the crypto industry as well as the security and privacy of users. He explains how Coin Center thinks the IRS should accomplish its aims, and why that would even work for collecting taxes on DeFi gains. Additionally, Peter explains why he believes the Bank Secrecy Act might be unconstitutional and how that could potentially affect developers building in crypto. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the IRS's proposed broker rule entails for crypto tax reporting and why this could have a negative impact on the industry What responsibilities brokers in the crypto space now face Why the IRS didn’t use Congress's amended language from the infrastructure bill Why Peter argues that the IRS’s new proposed broker rule on crypto is unconstitutional and the principles at stake The alternative approaches Peter suggests the IRS could adopt for more effective and fair regulation Why Peter has concerns for crypto developers about the potential application of the Bank Secrecy Act What actions Coin Center is undertaking to advocate for changes in the Bank Secrecy Act to better align with crypto realities Why Coin Center is appealing in its lawsuit against the Treasury Department over the OFAC sanctions on Tornado Cash Thank you to our sponsors! Arbitrum Foundation Popcorn Network Guest Peter Van Valkenburgh, director of research at Coin Center Previous appearances on Unchained: Why the SEC Is Probing Yuga Labs and Coin Center Is Suing Treasury How Coin Center Is Helping Define The 'Big Fuzzy Gray Area' Of Blockchain And Cryptocurrency Law Why the SEC's Proposed Rules Affecting DeFi Could Violate the First Amendment Links IRS Crypto Regulation Coin Center: Electronic Cash, Decentralized Exchange, and the Constitution The Blockchain Association’s letter opposing tax regulations proposed by the IRS CoinDesk: How the Crypto Industry Responded to the IRS Proposed Broker Rule Patriot Act California Bankers Assn. v. Shultz Bank Secrecy Act Coin Center: Broad, Ambiguous, or Delegated: Constitutional Infirmities of the Bank Secrecy Act Tornado Cash Coin Center: U.S. Treasury sanction of privacy tools places sweeping restrictions on all Americans Coin Center is suing OFAC over its Tornado Cash sanction Denial of Coin Center’s motion in its case against the US Treasury over OFAC sanctions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent Wall Street Journal article that claimed Hamas raised $130 million via cryptocurrency has sparked considerable debate, especially after Sen. Elizabeth Warren used it as her sole source to ask for tighter regulations around crypto. However, the veracity of this claim has come under scrutiny. Yaya Fanusie, Jessi Brooks, and Andrew Fierman delve into the veracity of reported figures, the methodology behind them, and the subsequent industry responses that sought to correct the public record. They examine the political implications of cryptocurrency, its use in funding organizations, and the nuanced role of stablecoins in this digital economy. Additionally, they address the broader challenges in regulating crypto to prevent illicit funding, emphasizing the need for factual accuracy and a comprehensive approach to understanding and tackling such complex issues. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the Wall Street Journal article claimed that Hamas and other militant groups in Palestine raised $130 million via crypto why Yaya, who spent some time in his career doing research on terrorist financing, found those numbers odd why Jessi believes that there's been a loss of focus on facts and accuracy Andrew's explanation of the post by Chainalysis that corrected the record why it's so difficult to make a confident assessment of how much money is being funneled to terrorist groups whether crypto has become politicized why is it so important to focus not only on the crypto fundraising but also the other avenues, according to Jessi the role of USDT and other stablecoins in fundraising terrorist organizations how North Korea is a much more sophisticated actor than Hamas in its know-how about crypto how the government has tried to respond to the illicit usage of crypto, such as the OFAC sanctions on Tornado cash the challenges to creating regulations to prevent the use of illicit activity in crypto Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guests: Yaya Fanusie, Director of anti-money laundering and cyber risk at the Crypto Council for Innovation Previous appearance on Unchained: How Widespread Is Money Laundering in Crypto? Hamas has been experimenting with crypto for years: Yaya Fanusie, appearance on FOX Business Jessi Brooks, CCO and Legal Officer at Ribbit Capital Previous appearance on Unchained: How This DOJ Strike Force Hunts Down Cryptocurrency Criminals Andrew Fierman, Head of Sanctions Strategy at Chainalysis Links Fundraising report and corrections: WSJ: Hamas Militants Behind Israel Attack Raised Millions in Crypto Cryptocurrency Feeds Hamas’s Terrorism Questioning Two Senators on Crypto Terrorism Washington Post: U.S. to warn crypto firms against financing Hamas, terror groups U.S. Cyber Command helps prosecutors seize stolen cryptocurrency traced to illicit N. Korea nuclear weapons program FT: Israel orders freeze on crypto accounts in bid to block funding for Hamas Fortune: Stricter verification laws in the U.S. won’t stop international terrorists from using crypto DOJ: Global Disruption of Three Terror Finance Cyber-Enabled Campaigns Elliptic: Setting the record straight on crypto crowdfunding by Hamas How Hamas has utilized crypto, and what may be coming Chainalysis: Cryptocurrency and Terrorism Financing: Correcting the Record DOJ Takedowns Terrorism Financing with Blockchain Analysis Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang welcomes Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who discusses his mission to end the U.S. government’s regulatory overreach of the crypto industry, the parallels between crypto and the biotech industry where he came from, whether “code is law” is an appropriate framework for crypto regulation, how Bitcoin could be a check on the Fed, and how less regulation would actually lead to fewer, not more, instances of fraud like FTX. Ramaswamy is promising to release a comprehensive crypto policy plan this week. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what Vivek thinks about crypto and why he is interested in this topic as a presidential candidate why he believes the SEC is engaging in “unconstitutional overreach” when it comes to crypto what the similarities are between early-stage biotech and early-stage crypto investing whether current regulatory requirements create a "false blanket of security" how Vivek would act to make sure the SEC doesn't overreach how the system should respond to less regulation in terms of fraud and innovation how stablecoins can reinforce the value of the dollar and Bitcoin can help discipline the Fed, according to Vivek whether Bitcoin is an asset that the Fed should buy for its balance sheet why Vivek believes it was a mistake to abandon the gold standard in the 1970s the gang's debrief of the conversation: what stood out, where they agree or disagree with Vivek their reaction to the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Guest Vivek Ramaswamy, American entrepreneur and U.S. presidential candidate Links Fox Business: Ramaswamy woos pro-crypto voters, says he’ll build new policy framework for digital assets Axios: Ramaswamy goes after regulators at crypto event CoinDesk: Vivek Ramaswamy Is Drafting a 'Crypto Policy Framework' WSJ: Stablecoins Can Keep the Dollar the World’s Reserve Currency Decrypt: What Stops the Fed From Buying Up Bitcoin? Forbes: What Happened In 1971? Unchained: SBF Trial, Day 18: Sam Bankman-Fried Found Guilty on All 7 Counts in Swift Verdict Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, OpenSea, the former frontrunner in the NFT marketplace, confirmed the layoff of half its workforce as the NFT markets seemed to bottom out. gmoney, NFT collector and founder of 9dcc, joins Unchained to provide insight into the once-dominant NFT marketplace’s fall from grace. He talks about the competitive dynamics that challenge the platform's market share and whether a token launch could help. In addition, gmoney delves into why the NFT market has been “abysmal,” what could potentially catalyze its revival, and how he thinks creator royalties will evolve. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: whether OpenSea 'rested on their laurels' after becoming the market leader whether the fact that its competitor Blur launched a token was a reason for OpenSea's fall whether OpenSea not immediately following other platforms such as Blur in making creator royalties optional led to some of its decline how gmoney wants to incentivize people to pay creator royalties why the NFT market has gone down and what gmoney's thesis for NFTs is what catalysts could cause the next NFT bull run, according to gmoney how NFTs make it possible for certain groups to access new forms of credit whether Ethereum can be displaced from its leadership position in the NFT market what gmoney thinks could revive OpenSea’s prospects Whether Blur's model is to blame for the decline in the NFT market how gmoney thinks Blur should act to retain its market dominance Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guest gmoney, NFT collector and founder of 9dcc Links Previous episodes of Unchained and The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Did Blur Cause a Decline in the NFT Market? The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy Decrypt: Did Blur Really Crash the NFT Market? OpenSea’s move to make creator royalties optional for NFT trades Blur Overtakes OpenSea as Ethereum NFT Trading Skyrockets The Crypto Times: Blur Jumps Nearly 30% Within Days While OpenSea Layoffs Cointelegraph: OpenSea lays off 50% of staff with severance in preparation for version 2.0 launch CoinDesk: NFT Lending Platform Blend Sparks Concerns Over Ecosystem Liquidity The Information: Coatue Cuts Value of OpenSea Stake by 90% as Fund’s Returns Sag Axios: The fight over a shrinking NFT market as marketplaces foresee next big boom Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Tarun Chitra, and Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, they explore the enigmatic 'unhinged scale' metric, consider whether recent layoffs could have been anticipated, and examine the challenges facing the NFT market. They also provide a somewhat critical look at the events of the recent BAYC Apefest and share their takeaways on how Solana survived the Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX fiasco. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, TuneIn, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: What the unhinged scale metric is and why SBF ranks the highest in that metric Whether the companies doing layoffs could have predicted the market moves in a better way Whether people and the press are being too harsh on the companies reducing their workforce How the NFT market is a much harder environment than everything else, given the extreme volatility Whether the model used by Blur caused the value of NFTs to go down What’s more important in the NFT market: the supply or the demand The BAYC ‘Apefest’ that caused eye damage to some participants and whether someone sabotaged the meetup Tarun’s takeaways from the recent Solana conference in Amsterdam Whether the people who survived the Solana market crash are like ‘cockroaches after a explosion’ Why Haseeb believes that Solana represents the most incredible story in the history of Layer 1s Whether crypto gaming studios should focus on building ‘dumber’ games rather than AAA ones Why “nature is a Ponzi scheme,” according to Tarun Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Tarun Chitra, managing partner at Robot Ventures Disclosures Links Previous episodes of Unchained and The Chopping Block debating NFT Royalties: The Chopping Block: Two on Two Debate: NFT Royalty Throwdown! Are NFT Royalties the Way? How to Build a Sustainable Creator Economy Decrypt: Ava Labs Confirms Layoffs, Affecting 12% of Avalanche Studio's Employees Did Blur Really Crash the NFT Market? Cryptotimes.io: Blur Jumps Nearly 30% Within Days While OpenSea Layoffs Cointelegraph: OpenSea lays off 50% of staff with severance in preparation for version 2.0 launch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of Unchained, Laura does a detailed unpacking of the historic Sam Bankman-Fried trial and verdict with defense lawyer Sam Enzer and former Southern District of New York prosecutor Rich Cooper. They discuss what a thorough job the government did in presenting its case, whether the government will pursue a second trial on campaign finance charges, why it takes so long for sentencing to occur, what the differences between this case and the Bernie Madoff case are, and what Bankman-Fried’s likely sentence will be. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: how the cross-examination of SBF showed to the jury that he was unreliable, according to Rich why the charge conference with the jury is important to the prosecution for “protecting the record” why the closing argument of the prosecutors was so effective what “conscious avoidance” is and how the prosecutors tried to prove that SBF was guilty of that why SBF’s tweet last November that "FTX is fine" was the hardest part of the trial for the defense, according to Enzer why Enzer wasn’t surprised by how quickly the jury made its decision what SBF’s strongest argument is for an appeal why Enzer "hopes" that there won't be a second trial against SBF and whether he will plead guilty to the additional charges why the sentencing occurs so many months after the verdict how this case is similar, but also different, from the Bernie Madoff case how many years SBF could spend in prison, according to Enzer and Cooper when cooperating witnesses such as Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang are likely to get sentenced Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel. Previous appearances on Unchained: Why SBF's Testimony So Far Has Likely Already Doomed Him Another Bad Week for Sam Bankman-Fried in His Criminal Trial Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case SBF’s Lawyers Could Be Annoying the Judge. How Might That Impact the Trial? Rich Cooper, Former SDNY prosecutor Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? Visit www.unchainedcrypto.com for more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two Genesis creditors, BJ and Branden, who prefer to use pseudonyms for security reasons, spoke with Unchained about the alleged fraud by the crypto lender and its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG). The discussion is one of the first times Genesis creditors have spoken with a media organization about the situation. BJ and Branden explain how they gave more loans to Genesis after it took a $1.1 billion hit from the liquidation of Three Arrows Capital and how they then came to be members of the ad hoc group, a collective of Genesis customers who came together to try and save the company from bankruptcy. They talk about how they now want DCG to pay back the $1.1 billion it owes over a shorter timeframe and to pay back any Bitcoin in actual Bitcoin. The discussion with Unchained followed shortly after New York Attorney General Letitia James filed a lawsuit against Genesis, along with its parent company Digital Currency Group, and Gemini Trust. Listen to the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Overcast, Podcast Addict, Pocket Casts, Stitcher, Castbox, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, or on your favorite podcast platform. Show highlights: what NYAG Letitia James alleged in the lawsuit against Gemini, DCG, and Genesis how BJ and Branden became creditors of Genesis, including the role of the influence of MicroStrategy's Michael Saylor how Genesis claimed it got into what it called a “liquidity mismatch” how, after the Three Arrows Capital collapse, BJ and Branden were reassured that Genesis had "no issues" and "was back to business" whether the trading and lending units of Genesis were all part of the same company and why that distinction is important what the difference is between the ad hoc group and an unsecured creditors committee what the creditors are proposing in order to get their assets back why the creditors want to be paid in crypto, not in USD whether the case will go to litigation and what Silbert can do to avoid it Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation Phemex Popcorn Network Guests: Branden, Creditor of Genesis BJ, Creditor of Genesis Links Previous coverage of Unchained on Genesis and DCG: ​​Genesis May Be Facing Bankruptcy. Could It Take DCG Down With It? Gemini vs. DCG Is Heating Up. Could Gemini Force Genesis Into Bankruptcy? $630M Due Next Week: Is DCG at Default Risk? NYAG Lawsuit Unchained: NY Attorney General Sues Crypto Firms Gemini, Genesis, and DCG for Over $1 Billion Fraud The Block: DCG says it was 'blind sided' by NYAG suit in third quarter shareholder letter Genesis, Gemini, DCG disputes Unchained: Gemini Says DCG Missed $630 Million Payment Last Week Cameron Winklevoss Threatens to Sue DCG and Barry Silbert Over Delays in Genesis Resolution DCG Calls Gemini Lawsuit a ‘Publicity Stunt’ From Cameron Winklevoss DCG Calls Gemini’s Complaint a PR Campaign in Motion to Dismiss Lawsuit FTX and Genesis Reach $175 Million Settlement, Resolving Complex Dispute DCG and Genesis Reach In-Principle Deal With Creditors Gemini and Genesis Creditor Groups Object to In-Principle Deal to Resolve Bankruptcy Genesis Winds Down its US Spot Crypto Trading Operation Genesis Sues Parent Company DCG, Seeks Repayment of $600 Million DCG Proposes Remuneration Plan That Could Enable Gemini Earn Users to Be Made Whole Genesis Winds Down All Crypto Trading Services: Report Gemini Pushes Back on DCG’s Remuneration Proposal, Calling it an ‘Attempt to Bait’ Earn Users Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The downfall of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried from king of the crypto world to crypto scammer is complete. A Manhattan jury of nine women and three men took less than five hours Thursday afternoon, day 18 of the high-profile trial, to convict Bankman-Fried on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy for stealing billions of dollars of his customers’ assets. “Sam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest financial frauds in American history, a multi-million scheme designed to make him the king of crypto,” said Damian Williams, U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York in remarks following the verdict. The guilty verdict came a year to the day after crypto publication CoinDesk published a story showing balance sheet irregularities at Bankman-Fried’s investment company, Alameda Research, that suggested the ties between Alameda and FTX were unusually close. Bankman-Fried now faces potentially decades in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 28. After listening to Judge Lewis Kaplan read through 60 pages of instructions, jurors quickly concluded that Bankman-Fried was responsible for decisions that led to an $8 billion hole in its balance sheet, including the use of customer assets for political donations, investments and his own personal use. Prosecutors had reiterated this theme in a stinging, Thursday morning rebuttal. And jurors rejected whole-hog Bankman-Fried’s defense team’s narrative that Bankman-Fried was being villainized for being a poor manager who didn’t create sufficient risk management systems. They also did not buy into Bankman-Fried’s claim that he was unaware of the severity of his company’s financial problems and that his inner circle, three of whom testified earlier in the trial as part of plea agreements, were to blame. “We respect the jury’s decision,” said Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, Mark Cohen. But we are very disappointed with the result. Mr. Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to fight the charges against him.” U.S. attorney Wiliams called Bankman-Fried’s crimes “ fraud” as “old as time,” and said his office had “no patience for it.” He added: “This case moved at lightning speed, that was a choice, not a coincidence.” Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the trial of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried closed their arguments with similar stories to their opening statements more than three weeks ago: a tale of two Sams. On Wednesday morning, day 17 of the trial, the government took jurors on a final grand tour of Bankman-Fried’s alleged lies, evasions and misdirections that they said aimed to hide the ugly truth of a gaping $8 billion hole in the crypto exchange’s balance sheet from investors and regulators, and that reflected his indifference to spending customer assets. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicholas Roos said that as the person overseeing FTX and the separate trading entity, Alameda Research, to which FTX funneled customer deposits, Bankman-Fried was the only person who could have been responsible for decisions that led to the deficit – criminally so. “He told a story and he lied to you,” said Roos, who punctuated his more than two-hour presentation with metadata readings and time tables that seemed to devastatingly illustrate SBF’s ongoing awareness of his company’s financial debacle. But in the afternoon, Bankman-Fried’s defense team portrayed him in softer tones, as a math nerd with no ill-intent and guilty only of bad management, particularly his failure to install adequate risk management protections. Attorney Mark Cohen said that the government had failed to prove its case as it sought to create a Hollywood villain responsible for the disappearance of the funds, cartooning his dress and personal habits to make their case. At one point, he seemed to appeal to jurors’ emotions, reminding them that Bankman-Fried had lived a big life and now faces prison. Bankman-Fried faces potentially decades in prison on a total of seven counts of wire fraud and conspiracy. The prosecution will have an opportunity for rebuttal on Thursday, and jurors could begin deliberating his fate before the end of the day.. Often raising his voice for dramatic effect, Roos highlighted earlier testimony from Bankman-Fried’s inner circle and Google metadata indicating his awareness of the balance sheet woes to show his involvement in the company’s oversight. Bankman-Fried testified on Monday that he was unaware of the problems, suggesting others were to blame. And Roos used the time tables to demonstrate separately that Bankman-Fried had lied to Congress about protecting customer assets even as he paid off loans using them, and that he had spent heavily on investments, political contributions and personal items, even after he knew of the massive balance sheet hole. “This was a pyramid of deceit built by the defendant on a foundation of lies and false promises, all to get money, and eventually it collapsed, leaving countless victims in its wake,” Roos thundered. Visit UnchainedCrypto.com for prior episodes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Chopping Block – where crypto insiders Haseeb Qureshi, Tom Schmidt, Robert Leshner chop it up about the latest news. This week, the gang sits down with guest Nic Carter of Castle Island Ventures, whose tweet thread pushed the Wall Street Journal to correct its story that Hamas had raised tens of millions in crypto. Carter discusses the challenges in tracking how much crypto Hamas has actually received, the declining prospects for Sam Bankman-Fried’s acquittal, and ongoing dramas surrounding staking protocol Lido and decentralized exchange dYdX. Show highlights: Why the cross-examination has not gone well for Sam Bankman-Fried how the Wall Street Journal misinterpreted data and may have overstated the amount of crypto donations flowing to Hamas for terrorist activities why it’s difficult to pinpoint how much funding Hamas has raised in crypto donations how extensive crypto funding for terrorists is believable to many outside observers of the industry, even recently some of its supporters in Congress, but does not reflect reality Why Hamas has decided on its own to stop trying to raise funds in crypto how Lido is upset at the way Layer Zero has pre-marketed its bridge why dYdX’s pivot to decentralization with fees going into its token is a positive development but does not give the protocol the moral high ground to attack erstwhile competitors such as UniSwap. Hosts Haseeb Qureshi, managing partner at Dragonfly Robert Leshner, founder of Compound Tom Schmidt, general partner at Dragonfly Guest Nic Carter, general partner at Castle Island Ventures Disclosures Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Day 15: Prosecutors Hammer Bankman-Fried’s Contradictions With Reams of Evidence Day 16: In Final Cross Examination, SBF Gets Caught Again by His Own Words Hamas Unchained: Binance Helps Israel Police Freeze Hamas Crypto Accounts: Report Unchained: Bitcoin Slips to $27.4K Amid Escalating Israel-Hamas War but Long-Range Impact Remains Uncertain Nic Carter Twitter thread: Can crypto-twitter OSINT outperform the WSJ’s chain analysis? Nic Carter Tweet: Liz Warren wyd? The Wall Street Journal: The Wall Street Journal and Liz Warren double down on the Hamas crypto canard Washington Post: U.S. to warn crypto firms against financing Hamas, terror groups CoinDesk: The Hamas Funding Story Is Why Crypto Is Sick of the Mainstream Media Layer Zero/Lido LayerZero’s wstETH bridge deployment draws Lido DAO ire LayerZero introduces omnichain token to move Lido's wstETH across Avalanche, BNB Chain and Scroll dYdX Examining dYdX’s Path to Profitable DeFi Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For a second, consecutive day, prosecutors pounded away at Sam Bankman-Fried’s credibility, asking the former FTX CEO to explain his obliviousness about how Alameda had spent $8 billion of FTX customer funds. Prosecutors and the defense both rested their cases on Day 16 of the high-profile trial. Both sides will make their closing arguments on Wednesday and jurors could begin deliberating the following day. While Bankman-Fried claimed that he thought “it was permissible” for Alameda to use FTX customers’ fiat deposits, he also admitted that he didn’t tell his employees not to spend that money or create measures to segregate FTX customer funds from Alameda’s. Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon also grilled him on why he didn’t look into who had spent the FTX customer money. “So it’s your testimony that while you were CEO of Alameda some unknown people spent $8 billion without your knowledge?” prosecutor Danielle Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried, who replied that he didn’t agree that was his testimony. Bankman-Fried later said that he had asked former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison to explain the $8 billion in spending but did not fire anyone. Under subsequent defense questioning, Bankman-Fried said that he had wanted to look ahead. Earlier in the day, Sassoon had honed in on Bankman-Fried’s allegedly close relationship with government officials in the Bahamas, and presented an email in which he said that the company had “segregated funds for all Bahamian customers on FTX and that it would be “more than happy to open up withdrawals for all Bahamian customers on FTX.” The communication came Nov. 9, 2022, a few days after FTX had halted customer withdrawals as awareness of its financial problems grew. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX SBF Trial, Day 15: Prosecutors Hammer Bankman-Fried’s Contradictions With Reams of Evidence Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a trial during which he has suffered many low points, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried may have reached a nadir on day 15 as prosecutor Danielle Sassoon used his own words to show stark contradictions from his earlier testimony and a seemingly callous disregard for customer assets. The tenacious, methodical Sassoon punctuated her more than four hours of interrogation on Monday afternoon with devastating audio and visual evidence of Bankman-Fried, including memos to himself, internal FTX and Alameda documents, and testimony to Congress that countered statements he’d made under his defense team team’s kinder questioning. In one instance, Sassoon showed a Signal chat in which Bankman-Fried expressed his interest in purchasing MAPs token, a direct refutation of his testifying that he “was not involved at all in any way” in trading. In another instance, she illustrated Bankman-Fried’s alleged lack of regard for his Twitter followers, showing a screenshot of a Twitter DM with Kelsy Piper in which he admits to being insincere about his support for regulation that protects customers, telling Piper at one point, “just PR, fuck regulators.” Bankman-Fried claimed not to remember a spreadsheet with seven, different balance sheets created by then Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison to make the company’s balance sheet look better than it was, a key piece of evidence that Ellison addressed in her testimony. Sassoon presented Google metadata showing Bankman-Fried had read the document. Dressed in a light gray suit with a purple tie, Bankman-Fried claimed repeatedly not to remember other events or his responses in conversations, and he answered other questions with curt yeses and nos, unlike the windy, often convoluted responses that he provided to his defense team earlier in the day and on Monday. And as Sassoon continued to catch him in contradictions, he seemed to grow irritable and occasionally rocked back and forth in his chair. Prosecutors will continue their cross-examination on Tuesday followed by redirect for one or two hours before the defense closes its case. The prosecution will then call two rebuttal witnesses. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Enzer, a partner at the law firm Cahill Gordon & Reindel, told Laura that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried did about as well as he could in his testimony Friday but that he was unlikely “to withstand the scrutiny” of what prosecutors have already said will be a robust cross-examination when he takes the stand Monday. Enzer noted that Bankman-Fried’s attempts to explain why he thought his trading shop, Alameda Research, could borrow billions in dollars of FTX customer assets “defies common sense,” and that the company’s own terms of agreement or any other communications offered no justification for this belief. A Thursday hearing without the jury present, in which the defense gave a preview of some arguments it wanted to make, ended up giving the government answers from SBF that it can now use against him. Enzer also said that Bankman-Fried’s contention that his biggest mistake – a failure to implement proper risk management – did not constitute criminal fraud, did not address the core of the government’s case; namely, that he lied about how FTX was handling customer deposits. Show highlights: why Enzer thinks Sam Bankman-Fried’s testimony is unlikely to sway jury sentiment or withstand cross-examination why the evidentiary hearing in which SBF testified without a jury may hurt his cause the purpose of the evidentiary hearing how Judge Lewis Kaplan hinted at what he thought about SBF’s testimony how Bankman-Fried is likely to fare against prosecutor Danielle Sassoon in what she has promised will be a robust cross-examination how the defense tried to recast SBF’s image by humanizing him why the defense now has the strongest grounds for an appeal than it previously did what the jury is likely to make of SBF’s contention that he was in the dark about core allegations why the prosecution said it will call rebuttal witnesses what a charge conference is and why that will take place after SBF testifies Thank you to our sponsors! Crypto.com Arbitrum Foundation LayerZero Popcorn Network Guest: Sam Enzer, partner at Cahill Gordon & Reindel Links Previous coverage by Unchained on the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: How Heated Sidebars During the SBF Trial Could Impact the Jury’s Decision SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges Sam Bankman-Fried Trial: Here's Everything That Happened So Far SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers SBF Trial, Day 14: Sam Bankman-Fried Casts Blame on Others for Key Decisions at FTX Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Good Morning America: FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried on crypto giant's collapse: 'A lot of people got hurt. And that's on me' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sam Bankman-Fried took the stand before a jury for the first time in his criminal trial for allegedly defrauding FTX customers. The exchange’s co-founder and former CEO tried to recast the image that prosecutors spent nearly three weeks shaping of an executive who defrauded customers and dismissed the concerns of the three members of his inner circle, all of whom named him as their co-conspirator earlier in the trial. Responding to his defense team’s gentle questioning, SBF spent large parts of his testimony, offering alternative, often long-winded explanations for actions and behavior that prosecutors allege demonstrated intent to evade legal and regulatory scrutiny of the business he created. He admitted to making mistakes, which supported his defense team’s “failed entrepreneur” strategy, and none more significant than a failure to create a dedicated risk management team. Bankman-Fried denied committing any crimes or attempting to defraud anyone and said that he believed funds used for sponsorships, real estate purchases, political donations, venture investments and payments to lenders did not come from customer funds. At times, he attempted to shift blame for certain decisions on the inner circle, who he insisted had the authority to take action “on behalf of the company without consulting” him. SBF described former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, his on-and-off girlfriend, as a good trader and researcher who did not act on his stated concerns about the FTX trading arm’s exposure to market risk and importance of hedging. Ellison, who agreed to a plea deal with prosecutors, testified early in the trial that Bankman-Fried had asked her to manipulate Alameda balance sheets at Bankman-Fried’s direction to make them seem less risky to lenders and that Alameda had used FTX customer funds for its own investments. Prosecutors have promised a robust cross-examination next week. Whether they or Bankman-Fried’s version of events is more persuasive for jurors remains uncertain. Catch up on Unchained’s previous coverage: SBF Trial, Day 1: Possible Witnesses Include FTX Insiders, Big Names in Crypto, and SBF’s Family SBF Trial, Day 2: DOJ Says Sam Bankman-Fried ‘Lied’ While Defense Claims His Actions Were ‘Reasonable’ SBF Trial, Day 3: Why a True Believer in FTX Flipped Once He Learned One Fact SBF Trial, Day 4: SBF’s Lawyers Annoy Judge Kaplan, While Wang Reveals Alameda’s Special Privileges SBF Trial, Day 5: SBF's Defense Finally Found Its Legs, But Can It Counter Caroline Ellison? SBF Trial, Day 6: Caroline Ellison Recalls 'The Worst Week of My Life' SBF Trial, Day 7: In SBF Trial, Did the Defense Lose Its Opportunity With the Star Witness? SBF Trial, Day 8: Former BlockFi CEO Adds Credibility to Fraud Charges SBF Trial, Day 9: Nishad Singh Describes Former FTX CEO as a Bully and Big Spender SBF Trial, Day 10: Defense Struggles to Discredit Nishad Singh's Testimony SBF Trial, Day 11: How Alameda Got FTX Into a $9 Billion Hole SBF Trial, Day 12: Former FTX General Counsel Speaks Out Against SBF SBF Trial, Day 13: Before Judge, Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Gives Few Straight Answers Did Sam Bankman-Fried Have Intent to Defraud FTX Investors? Why These Lawyers Say It's Over for SBF-But His Only Hail Mary Is to Testify Here’s How Sam Bankman-Fried’s High-Stakes Trial Could Play Out SBF Trial: How Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Might Try and Win His Case The High-Stakes Trial of Sam Bankman-Fried Begins: What to Expect Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices