FTX and Alameda Behind BlockFi’s Bankruptcy, SBF Trial Continues

• The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried continued with testimony from Zac Prince, former CEO of BlockFi.
• BlockFi suffered a $1 billion loss due to the bankruptcy of FTX and Alameda Research, said Prince.
• Prince mentioned that had he known Alameda was using FTX customers’ money, he wouldn’t have lent to them.

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried continued with Zac Prince, former chief executive officer of defunct crypto lender BlockFi. BlockFi was one of Alameda Research’s lenders, and the bankruptcy of FTX and Alameda reportedly led to BlockFi losing $1 billion, which resulted in its own bankruptcy.

Prince’s testimony highlighted the transparency of his lending business, how BlockFi “had an increasing level of comfort with Bankman-Fried”, and how BlockFi gave several loans to Alameda. Prince shared that if he had known Alameda was using FTX customer money, he wouldn’t have lent it to Alameda as it was “not appropriate.”

Alameda paid BlockFi approximately $150 million in 2022, according to Prince, yet at the time of filing bankruptcy, Alameda still owed BlockFi about $650 million. Moreover, Prince shared that almost $350 million of BlockFi’s funds were held on FTX. He also shared that once BlockFi realized it couldn’t access its funds on FTX and Alameda couldn’t repay its loans, BlockFi filed for bankruptcy.

On a related note, SBF’s lawyers submitted a letter in regard to the defendant’s medications. The lawyers said:

The defense has a growing concern that, because of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s lack of access to Adderall, he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would and that he will not be able to meaningfully participate in the presentation of the defense case.

Citing the lawyers’ claim that SBF isn’t having his prescribed dose of Adderall during trial hours, crypto detective Coffeezilla shared the letter and called it “The Adderall defense.”

The public’s reaction to this varied, as some people called Bankman-Fried “an addict,” and some thought the request to be reasonable. One user said, “I take a stimulant for ADHD, and it would be difficult to testify for hours without it.”