ChainCatcher news, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison will be sentenced on September 24. At the suggestion of U.S. prosecutors, she may receive a lenient sentence.In court documents submitted on September 17, U.S. prosecutors mentioned that Ellison provided "substantial cooperation" in the case against former FTX CEO SBF and assisted in the investigation of "the wrongdoing of Alameda Research and FTX." The prosecution stated that she provided "credible and compelling testimony" for the trial and admitted her serious misconduct in the collapse of FTX.Prosecutors seem to attribute most of the charges in the indictment to SBF but acknowledge that Ellison, as CEO of Alameda, "voluntarily participated in the wrongdoing."Ellison has previously pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and money laundering, and her attorney has requested that she be sentenced to time served and receive three years of supervised release.

ChainCatcher news, according to IBTimes, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF)'s lawyer stated in a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan on December 1: "Upon further consideration, SBF and his lawyers have decided not to file any post-trial motions. They reserve the right to raise any claims on appeal."

ChainCatcher News: The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has denied Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) release application. The court stated that SBF's previous attempts to tamper with two witnesses during pre-trial release were the main reasons, "We reviewed the defendant's and appellant's additional arguments and found them unpersuasive."

ChainCatcher message, Uniswap founder Hayden Adam posted on the X platform stating: I believe the guilty verdict for SBF is the correct outcome, but in my view, the conviction of SBF is not something to celebrate. The loss of billions in user funds and the significant damage to the industry's reputation mean that the only winners are a few law firms and various cryptocurrency opponents.Hayden Adam also stated that as an industry, we need to do better. The next round should focus on technology + values, recognizing warning signs, and steering clear of personality cults and antisocial personalities.

ChainCatcher news, SBF's attorney Mark S. Cohen completed his closing arguments in court on Wednesday evening local time, requesting the court and jury to determine that SBF acted "in good faith" throughout his management of FTX and Alameda Research, and therefore should not be found guilty of fraud. In his closing arguments, the attorney stated that it was "poor communication in the real world," "mistakes," and "delays" that harmed FTX and other members of Bankman-Fried's crypto empire, rather than intentional fraud.

ChainCatcher news, SBF's trial has entered its final stage, and the U.S. prosecution delivered its closing arguments on November 1.U.S. Assistant Attorney Nicolas Roos presented numerous charts used as evidence to the jury, stating, "This is fraud. It's straightforward theft, with Alameda existing before FTX."Roos continued, "The defendant marketed the liquidation engine, claiming FTX was safe. He told Congress that collateral had to be placed on the platform itself, not just staked. But secret rules allowed Alameda to borrow billions without any risk of liquidation."The closing arguments are the last opportunity for lawyers to persuade the jury and the judge that they should win the case. The prosecution previously estimated that their closing arguments would take up to 4 hours. After that, SBF's defense attorneys will also present their closing arguments.

ChainCatcher news, according to WSJ, Judge Lewis Kaplan in the SBF trial stated that closing arguments will begin at 21:30 Beijing time on Wednesday. Kaplan, the prosecutors, and the defense attorneys are expected to discuss legal instructions on Tuesday afternoon, and the judge will read these instructions to the jury before deliberation.The closing arguments from both sides on Wednesday are expected to last two to three hours, and according to this schedule, the jury may begin deliberation on Thursday.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, during today's testimony, U.S. prosecutors asked SBF: Was it your decision to spend billions of dollars on venture capital decisions in 2021 and 2022? SBF responded: I believe that several billion dollars of that was my decision.SBF also admitted that he decided to spend billions on venture capital even before Alameda was ultimately hedged. Crunchbase data shows that FTX Ventures invested in nearly 70 startups.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, FTX founder SBF's defense team wants him to testify about whether he knew lawyers were involved in certain aspects of FTX operations, his understanding of industry practices, his intentions regarding FTX funds at the time of FTX's collapse, and his level of knowledge about the financial status of FTX and Alameda.The defense filing on Wednesday requested that Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, allow defense attorneys to question SBF about certain aspects of FTX operations, as well as how the company's lawyers were involved in making those decisions. These questions include FTX's automatic deletion policy for Signal and Slack messages, the establishment of North Dimension and its bank accounts, loans provided to executives by FTX and Alameda Research, and other issues. The filing mentioned that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is attempting to assert that some or all of these questions are evidence of criminal intent.The defense is trying to argue that SBF did not intend to deceive customers or investors, and that part of his efforts in running the company relied on legal advice.

ChainCatcher news, FTX founder SBF's defense attorney stated that SBF will testify in the criminal trial, directly appealing to the jurors to prove that he did not commit fraud or conspire to commit fraud on the once-massive cryptocurrency exchange FTX.SBF will describe his perspective on the events to 12 jurors and 6 alternate jurors, who will be asked to determine whether he is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fortune, during the trial of the SBF case, U.S. prosecutor Danielle Sassoon told Judge Lewis Kaplan that SBF displayed "loud laughter, obvious head shaking, and mocking" reactions while former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was testifying.Danielle Sassoon stated that she has not yet communicated with the witness (Caroline), but this may have had a significant impact on her, especially considering that SBF had previously intimidated her, as well as their power dynamics and romantic relationship, hoping that SBF could control his behavior during the trial.

ChainCatcher news, the U.S. prosecutor told the court at the end of the SBF hearing on Tuesday local time that Caroline Ellison's testimony is expected to last all day Wednesday. The U.S. assistant prosecutor stated that after completing direct questioning and cross-examination, the Department of Justice expects to call BlockFi co-founder Zac Prince and former Alameda software developer Christian Drappi.Additionally, the prosecutors anticipate that the trial will be completed in about four weeks, ending as early as October 27. Assuming the defense presents arguments, it is expected to take another week and a half after that, which means the trial could conclude as early as November 9.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, former CEO of hedge fund Alameda Research Caroline Ellison is likely to be the next witness to testify in the SBF trial, succeeding former FTX executive Gary Wang.After the court session ended on Friday morning, the U.S. Department of Justice stated that Gary Wang's testimony will conclude on Tuesday, and prosecutors expect the next witness to be Ellison. Like Gary Wang, Ellison also admitted to multiple fraud charges last December.It is reported that the court will not be in session next Monday due to Columbus Day, and will resume on Tuesday at 9:30 AM Eastern Time.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, a witness in the SBF trial stated that the unusual way FTX handled customer deposits led to software errors that exaggerated the amount Alameda owed to FTX customers by $8 billion.One key part is the banking aspect. Former FTX developer Adam Yedidia told the court that in the early days of FTX, its customers deposited fiat currency by remitting to Alameda instead of directly depositing to FTX. This unusual relationship complicated the company's ability to track the debts owed to customers. Yedidia stated that there was a bug in the accounting software, which by June 2022 showed that Alameda owed far more money than the actual amount.