I hope you are all well and having excellent day, welcome to CryptoGod-1’s blog on all things crypto. In this post I will be looking at the news of Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) legal team looking to question Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, over FTX’s investment in Anthropic AI.
Ellison & Alameda Research
It has recently emerged that SBF's former CEO of Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, is going to be questioned as part of SBF's legal teams cross examination of witnesses. The questioning will be focusing on the to which Ellison relied on legal counsel when making pivotal decisions during her tenure as the head of Alameda Research. The company was a crypto hedge fund which worked closely with SBF's collapsed exchange FTX.
Ellison is considered a central figure as part of the criminal fraud case against SBF, and his former romantic partner took to the witness stand on Tuesday the 10th of October 2023. As part of her testimony, she noted that her advice regarding FTX's investment portfolio had been ignored. As a result of these allegations, the legal team for SBF want to question her further to unearth further information and the truth.
After her initial testimony two motions were filed be SBF's legal team. The first of these motions wants to address the matter of "advice-of-counsel." Previously Judge Lewis Kaplan had noted the need for advance notification if the defence wished to explore this topic further. The defence is keen to delve further into this topic to ensure they probe Ellison's understanding of the role played by lawyers associated with FTX and Alameda in formulating corporate policies. Included in this will be the activation of auto-deletion features on the messaging platform Signal.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) on the other hand has previously requested for the court to block any attempt by SBF's defence to further approach the current valuation of FTX's investments, as they feel it has little to do with the question of whether or not SBF misappropriated customer funds in his running of FTX, with the allegations of those funds being used as part of his personal account still up for discussion.
The second motion relates to the recent report of recent fundraising initiatives by the artificial intelligence firm Anthropic AI. This news has raised hopes that FTX creditors may receive substantial more returns than previously expected if the insolvent exchange liquidates its position in the AI company. The legal team wants to contend that news concerning Anthropic AI is "crucial context" for evaluating FTX's expected value analysis.
The aim of the motion is for the legal team to pose broader questions concerning FTX's investment portfolio due to this development. By the conclusion of the court session Judge Lewis Kaplan had engaged in dialogue with the attorneys regarding the appropriateness of raising these issues during the trial.
It is also known that Caroline Ellison holds a personal stake in Anthropic AI, which was disclosed by a U.S. attorney after the jury exited the courtroom. The prosecutor, Danielle Sassoon, had reservations regarding the permissibility of this line of questioning but indicated a willingness to explore it if the court deemed it relevant.
Have a great day.
CryptoGod-1.
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