Sam Bankman-Fried watches as Assistant U.S. Attorney Thane Rehn makes his opening remark in Bankman-Fried's fraud trial over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., October 4, 2023 in this courtroom sketch. REUTERS/Jane Rosenberg/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsNEW YORK, Oct 6 (Reuters) - Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial kicked off this week, nearly a year after the FTX cryptocurrency exchange he founded declared bankruptcy in a collapse that shocked markets and left the 31-year-old wunderkind's reputation in tatters. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to charges of stealing billions of dollars in customer funds to prop up his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research. "Sam and his colleagues were building the plane as they were flying it," Cohen said in his opening statement on Wednesday. "The conversation began with me bringing up the large debt owed by Alameda to FTX and asking something like, 'are things OK?'"

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Persons: Sam Bankman, Attorney Thane Rehn, Jane Rosenberg, Fried, Rehn, Mark Cohen, Sam, Cohen, Adam Yedidia, Fried's, Yedidia, Matt Huang, Huang, Gary Huang, Wang, Luc Cohen, Matthew Lewis Organizations: U.S, Attorney, Federal Court, REUTERS, Alameda Research, Manhattan U.S, ALAMEDA, Paradigm, Thomson Locations: Bankman, FTX, New York City, U.S, Thane, Alameda, New York