Prosecutors now say that Sam Bankman-Fried committed fraud and conspiracy when he oversaw FTX. AdvertisementAdvertisementThe collapse of FTX in 2022 wasn't the result of fraud or a deliberate scheme to steal from customers; it was just the nature of a volatile cryptocurrency market, Sam Bankman-Fried's attorney argued on Wednesday. His attorney, Mark Cohen, argued during opening statements on Wednesday that Bankman-Fried never intended to defraud anyone or mislead customers to get them to invest in FTX. For the first time since 2021, the crypto market overall was worth less than $1 trillion by June 2022. That kind of turbulence is precisely what can overwhelm burgeoning companies like FTX, Cohen tried to argue.

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Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, SBF, —, Bankman, Mark Cohen, Cohen, Sam, FTX, Sheila Warren, Qiao Wang Organizations: Prosecutors, Service, Alameda Research, Crypto, Innovation, New York Times, Alliance Locations: FTX, Manhattan, Bahamas