SBF Made the Decisions, Former Executive Testifies

There was no doubt about who made the major calls at FTX, a former top executive has testified in the federal fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange. "In the end, it was Sam's decision," Gary Wang, who took the stand for six hours over Thursday and Friday, told a New York jury. Among those critical decisions was allowing the misuse of billions of dollars from FTX customers by a closely affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research, the New York Times reports.

An $8 billion shortfall was found in FTX's accounts last year that prosecutors say was caused largely by Alameda accessing customers' money. Wang has admitted to, along with another programmer, writing the code that created the backdoor allowing Alameda to borrow from FTX's accounts without restraint. He testified that Bankman-Fried knew that was going on. Wang also said Bankman-Fried was lying when he said publicly in November that the assets of FTX customers were secure. Wang has pleaded guilty in the case and testified under an agreement to cooperate with the prosecution. Caroline Ellison, who ran Alameda Research, also pleaded guilty and is expected to testify Tuesday, per CNBC. (More Sam Bankman-Fried stories.)