Which Sam Bankman-Fried will jury believe?

Superstars, the Super Bowl, and a sharp new outfit: US Correspondent Logan Church looks at the colourful world of the alleged crypto-fraudster known as SBF in a New York court.

Grey suit. Business shirt and tie. Eyes downcast. The image of a Wall Street financier. Or an investment banker.

It sits in stark contrast to Sam Bankman-Fried’s style before his dramatic December 2022 arrest in the Bahamas.

The man who created FTX, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange ever, which was once worth billions of dollars, became famous for his T-shirts and shorts. And his messy, curly long hair.

It is not the image that Bankman-Fried, or SBF, as he likes to be known, is portraying to the courts.

This week Bankman-Fried has taken the stand in Manhattan federal court to defend himself against allegations of widespread financial fraud.

He’s facing seven charges to be exact, in relation to the collapse of FTX and the alleged propping up of his investment firm with FTX customers’ funds.

He is alleged to have used money to support political candidates and buy expensive properties.

It’s rare for a criminal defendant here in the US to take the stand in their own defence.

Giving evidence, he built an image of himself as a young entrepreneur who was in over his head.

“We thought that we might be able to build the best product on the market,” he told the court. In so doing, they would move the cryptocurrency system forward, he believed.

“It turned out basically the opposite of that. A lot of people got hurt — customers, employees — and the company ended up in bankruptcy,” Bankman-Fried said.

He, however, denied committing fraud.

It emerged that while his businesses were sinking into debt, hundreds of millions of dollars were being spent on marketing, including making a 2022 Super Bowl commercial.

He claimed he had no background in marketing or any understanding of how to promote himself, even as he became the public face of his rapidly growing crypto exchange.

His lawyer showed jurors a picture of Bankman-Fried with singer Katy Perry, actress Kate Hudson and others at the 2022 Super Bowl in Los Angeles while his client explained that he went to the game because he “thought maybe it would be interesting” and then ended up in the box with celebrities when they saw him and “invited” him in.

Again, Bankman-Fried’s defence has continued to be that he was simply way out of his depth. A victim of his own success in other words.

Tough cross-examination

But cross-examination from the prosecution has appeared brutal.

Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon pointed out a number of times where Bankman-Fried promised customers that their assets would be safe and that they could demand those assets to be returned at any time.

“Yep,” was the answer from the witness block.

Over several hours, she kept drawing attention to the stark contract between what Bankman-Fried would say publicly, including in what seemed to be a growing number of media appearances, and what was actually happening.

Today, as cross-examination continued, Sassoon repeatedly pushed Bankman-Fried to admit he knew that his investment firm was using FTX funds.

The trial continues, but potentially not for much longer. The judge today indicated it could wrap up this week.

The question is which image of Bankman-Fried the jury will ultimately accept.

The suit-wearing young businessman who claimed he was in over his head?

Or the T-shirt-and-short wearing entrepreneur who was said to be a fraudster?

– Additional reporting by Associated Press