Sam Bankman-Fried's trial is nearing its end; on October 26, after nearly 20 testimonies, the prosecution is expected to rest their case.

Over the past three weeks, the prosecution called a number of witnesses, including former FTX workers, clients, investors, government representatives, and law enforcement officers.

The main defense is that Bankman-Fried purposefully misled them all and was responsible for the choices that led to the $8 billion gap between FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022.

The defense team for SBF has not declared that they will drop the lawsuit. Lawyers are not required to present a defense in criminal trials. On October 26, if his legal team decides to present a case, the hearing will start.

Bankman-Fried's attorneys, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell, have had trouble weaving a coherent story for the jury.

Even during the cross-examination of some of his former closest friends, including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Adam Yedidia, and Gary Wang, the attorneys missed some crucial points.

The group, which was working with the authorities, claimed that Bankman-Fried gave them orders to commit crimes.

When the government brings a case, there is a 95% chance of an indictment, an attorney watching the trial told Cointelegraph, highlighting the difficult task facing the defense.

But, it is the responsibility of the prosecution to establish the alleged crimes.

The testimony of FTX's former engineering director was one of the highlights of the prior week in court.

Singh testified to the jury that Bankman-Fried gave him the go-ahead to borrow money from Alameda to invest in millionaire ventures. Singh claims he was unaware that the funds were connected to FTX customers' deposits.

Singh could spend up to 75 years in prison if found guilty of charges related to defrauding cryptocurrency exchange users.

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the district court lost patience with the attorneys for both sides during that same week after a witness who had fled Texas for the trial testified for about 15 minutes.

“We had a witness this morning who knew absolutely nothing…and this afternoon we fly somebody in from Texas [...] he knows nothing or next to nothing,” Kaplan stated, complaining about prosecutors and the strategies of the defense’s witnesses.

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-trial-moves-final-stages

https://cointelegraph.com/news/what-going-on-sam-bankman-fried-defense

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-engineering-director-faces-prison-guilty-plea

https://cointelegraph.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-trial-updates