NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried began testifying at his fraud trial on Friday, saying the innovative business he hoped would move the cryptocurrency ecosystem forward ended up doing the opposite and hurting customers.
The onetime cryptocurrency golden boy lost his businesses and his reputation as a pioneering entrepreneur in an emerging facet of finance when a rush of customers withdrew their money last year, exposing that billions of dollars were missing.
Bankman-Fried, 31, acknowledged some of his failures early in his testimony, saying he made mistakes, large and small.
“We thought we might be able to build the best product on the market,” he said.