The Journal. - Introducing: The Trial of Crypto’s Golden Boy

Episode Date: September 20, 2023

Sam Bankman-Fried built a crypto empire. Then the exchange he founded collapsed, revealing that billions of dollars of customer money was missing. Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud, and his trial begins Oct. 3. In a new series from The Journal, WSJ’s Caitlin Ostroff explores Bankman-Fried meteoric rise, devastating fall and the trail that will determine his future.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A lot of us thought we knew Sam Bankman-Fried. He was a curly-haired math nerd who built a crypto giant called FTX. Not only one of the nicest people in crypto, but one of the smartest as well. The Michael Jordan of crypto, if you will. He promised to revolutionize finance and use his billions to save the world. Instead of answering questions like, well, you know, how much money do I need to eat? You're answering questions like, well, how much money does the world need to eat? But last year, the company Bankman Freed founded, FTX, collapsed.

And a different story started to come out. This morning, we unsealed an eight-count indictment charging Samuel Bankman Freed, FTX's founder, with a series of interrelated fraud schemes that contributed to FTX's collapse. Bankman Freed now stands accused of stealing billions of dollars from his customers and investors. If found guilty, he faces decades behind bars. I'm Caitlin Ostroff, and I cover crypto for The Wall Street Journal. For the past year, I've been down a rabbit hole, trying to find out everything I can about Bankman Freed. To answer the question, did he set out to defraud his customers?

I've listened to hours of interviews with him. I mean, look, I screwed up. And I've spoken to his rivals, friends, and the people who lost huge investments on FTX. Imagine being with this amazing relationship, and one day, out of the blue, you found out that this person is not exactly the person you think he or she was. Is there anything you would want to say to Sam, if you could?

I would say, give me my f***ing money back. Bankman Freed faces the trial of his life. And I'll be in court watching it unfold, bringing you every twist and turn. But first, I'll tell you how Bankman Freed went from billionaire philanthropist

to defendant in one of America's biggest fraud cases. From The Journal, this is the trial of crypto's golden boy. Find it in The Journal, this is the trial of crypto's golden boy. Find it in The Journal feed on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. We're out September 24th.