Sam Bankman-Fried took a big risk by testifying in his own trial. It did not go well
The former FTX CEO was keen to convince jurors he did not intend to commit any crimes — but he stumbled frequently under withering questioning by the prosecution.
With the trial turning against him, Sam Bankman-Fried took what could be the biggest gamble of his life: The disgraced founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX testified in his own defense.
It did not go well.
Taking the stand was always going to be a risky move — one few criminal defendants make. And less than a minute into an unyielding cross-examination by the prosecution, it was clear why.
Time and time again, the U.S. government's lawyers pointed to contradictions between what Bankman-Fried said in public and what he said — and did — in private, as they continued to build a case that
