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Witness Adam Yedidia answers questions during Sam Bankman-Fried fraud trial over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, October 5, 2023, in this courtroom sketch.

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Two of Sam Bankman-Fried’s former friends from MIT, who also worked at crypto exchange FTX while living with the company’s founder in the Bahamas, took the stand in a Manhattan courtroom this week to testify against their former classmate, confidant, and boss — a man who allegedly ran a crypto empire that defrauded thousands of customers out of billions of dollars.

Gary Wang, the lesser-known co-founder of FTX, was asked by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos on Thursday, “Did you commit financial crimes while working at FTX?”

“Yes,” responded Wang. He said that his crimes, including wire and commodities fraud, were carried out with the help of Bankman-Fried, FTX ex-engineering head Nishad Singh and Caroline Ellison, who ran sister hedge fund Alameda Research and had been Bankman-Fried’s girlfriend.

“Mr. Wang, do you see any of the people you committed those crimes with in the courtroom today?” Roos continued.

Wang, dressed in an oversized and wrinkled suit with a red tie and glasses, awkwardly stood up and looked around the courtroom before responding, “Yes.”

“Who do you see?” asked Roos.

“Sam Bankman-Fried,” he said.

The trial, set to last six weeks, will resume on Tuesday with key testimony expected from Ellison, who is considered the prosecution’s star witness, having already pleaded guilty to multiple charges. Bankman-Fried faces seven federal charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, that could put him in prison for the rest of his life.

Thus far, Bankman-Fried, 31, has remained mostly quiet in court intently listening to witnesses and at times writing notes to his attorneys. But as Wang testified against him, Bankman-Fried looked visibility upset, shifting his gaze from his former friend to the ground, and at one point putting his head in his hands.

Sam Bankman-Fried listens as Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos questions Gary Wang during Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., October 6, 2023, in this courtroom sketch. 

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Wang, 30, was technology chief for FTX, which spiraled into bankruptcy in November. He spoke so fast that U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan and the prosecutor both stopped him at points to ask that he slow his pace.

Much of Wang’s testimony on Friday focused on the final days at FTX before the entire operation imploded, including reports in the media detailing Alameda’s business practices and its troubling ties to FTX.

Wang said that in response to the reporting an emergency meeting was called between Bankman-Fried, Wang and Singh, to discuss shutting down Alameda. He said they ultimately decided against such a move, because he and Bankman-Fried were aware that Alameda had no way to repay the roughly $14 billion hole in its books.

Prosecutors took the jury through a series of tweets, beginning on Nov. 7. Posts came from the company blaming bank hours for slow withdrawals, while Bankman-Fried tweeted from his personal account, assuring customers that all was fine.

“FTX was not fine and assets were not fine,” Wang testified.

On Nov. 12, after FTX declared bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried asked Wang to drive with him to the Bahamas Securities Commission for a meeting. On the drive, Bankman-Fried told Wang to transfer assets to Bahamian liquidators because he believed they would allow him to maintain control of the company. Wang said he wasn’t in the meeting with the securities authority, though Bankman-Fried’s dad was present.

Wang said he returned to the U.S. and met with prosecutors the next day. He faces up to 50 years in prison when he faces a judge for sentencing following this trial. He told jurors he signed a six-page cooperation agreement that requires him to meet with prosecutors, answer their questions truthfully and turn over evidence.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is seen during a hearing as a U.S judge revoked his bail, at a courthouse in New York, U.S., August 11, 2023 in this courtroom sketch.

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

$65 billion line of credit

For months, Bankman-Fried has known that Wang and Ellison, who were integral members of his personal and professional inner circles, had turned on him. Both pleaded guilty in December and have since been cooperating with the U.S. attorney’s office in Manhattan.

Wang’s testimony, which stretched into Friday, was given under a cooperation agreement with the government. Ellison is expected to take the stand under a similar arrangement.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan presides as Gary Wang testifies during the fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., October 6, 2023 in this courtroom sketch.

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Born in China, Wang moved to the U.S. at age 7, and grew up in Minnesota before going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to study math and computer science. He worked at Google after college.

Wang, who first met Bankman-Fried during high school at a summer camp, owned 10% of Alameda, while his boss owned the other 90%. Wang told the court about the advantages that Alameda received by having code baked into FTX’s software that allowed special access to the crypto exchange. Those privileges ultimately resulted in Alameda owing FTX $8 billion worth of customer deposits.

“We gave special privileges on FTX that gave unlimited withdrawals on the platform to Alameda,” Wang said. Alameda was allowed to withdraw and transfer those funds and had a $65 billion line of credit. 

“When customers deposited USD, it went to Alameda,” he said. “It existed in the computer code. Alameda could have negative balances and unlimited withdrawals.”  

That “bug” in the code was written by Nishad Singh, who was FTX’s director of engineering, and reviewed by Wang. Bankman-Fried was calling the shots, Wang said.

Wang also told the court about a $1 million personal loan he received and a $200 million to $300 million loan in his name from Alameda that was never deposited into his account, but rather was used to make investments into other companies on behalf of FTX. That was all done by Bankman-Fried, he testified. 

In early 2020, Wang said he discovered for the first time Alameda’s negative balance exceeded FTX’s revenue, an indication that Alameda was taking customer funds. Wang said he brought this to Bankman-Fried’s attention several times. 

In late 2021, Wang discovered Alameda had withdrawn $3 billion from its $65 billion line of credit.

Wang’s compensation was a base salary of $200,000 per year plus stock. He owned roughly 17% of FTX.

Even though they were co-founders, “ultimately it was Sam’s decision to make” when there were disagreements, he said.

Assistant United States Attorney Nicolas Roos questions Gary Wang during Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial over the collapse of FTX, the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, at Federal Court in New York City, U.S., October 6, 2023, in this courtroom sketch. 

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

An $8 billion bug

Adam Yedidia, who was the prosecution’s second witness on Wednesday, continued his testimony on Thursday. Yedidia met Bankman-Fried in college at MIT, and the pair remained close friends.

Yedidia, assuming a robotic posture on the stand, worked out of FTX’s Hong Kong office from January to October of 2021 and then in the Bahamas until last year’s collapse. In his testimony, he referred to a group Signal thread called “People of the House,” referring to Bankman-Fried’s $35 million penthouse, where many employees lived.

Exhibit from the prosecution shows Signal thread called “People of the House,” referring to Bankman-Fried’s $35 million penthouse, where many employees lived.

Source: SDNY

In terms of who was paying the rent, Yedidia recalled Bankman-Fried saying he “assumed it’s just Alameda paying for it in the end.”

Yedidia said Bankman-Fried had told him, before he began working in the Bahamas in 2019, that he and Ellison had sex. Bankman-Fried asked Yedidia if it was a good idea for them to date, to which Yedidia said no. Bankman-Fried responded by saying he was expecting that answer.

One of Yedidia’s responsibilities was fixing the bug in the code that gave Alameda preferential treatment. In June 2022, he submitted a report to Bankman-Fried on Signal that showed $8 billion in customer money held in an internal database tracking the cash wired to an Alameda account called “fiat at ftx.com” was missing.

Yedidia said he and Bankman-Fried spoke about it at the pickleball court at the resort in Nassau, Bahamas. He asked his boss if things were OK. He was concerned because it “seemed like a lot of money” from FTX customers was at risk.

“Sam said, we were bulletproof last year. We aren’t bulletproof this year,” Yedidia testified.

Yedidia said he asked when they would be bulletproof again.

Bankman-Fried said he wasn’t sure, but it may be six months to three years. Yedidia said Bankman-Fried appeared “worried or nervous,” which he said was atypical. Still, Yedidia said he trusted Bankman-Fried and Ellison to “handle the situation.”

On cross-examination, Christian Everdell, Bankman-Fried’s attorney, focused on how Yedidia was the one responsible for developing and reviewing the code.

He asked about the long hours employees worked and Yedidia’s concern for Wang being near burnout. That resulted in Yedidia instituting a rule to not wake Wang at night for bug fixes because he needed sleep.

Everdell also drilled Yedidia on his high level of compensation in his less than two years at FTX. His base salary was between $175,000 and $200,000, but he received multiple bonuses of more than $12 million in cash and company equity. 

Yedidia said he’s now teaching math — geometry and algebra — at a high school. He invested most of the millions he earned as bonuses back into FTX, and his equity stake is now worthless.

As FTX was failing, Yedidia said he was by Bankman-Fried’s side. He highlighted a Signal exchange in November 2022, during which he wrote, “I love you Sam. I’m not going anywhere.” He said he wrote the message because so many people had left.

When asked what changed, Yedidia said he learned that FTX customer deposits had been used to pay loans to creditors. He said Alameda’s actions seemed “flagrantly wrong.”

Yedidia’s testimony ended on a fiery note, which was later struck from the record. He was asked why he had lost faith in FTX and resigned.

“FTX defrauded all its customers,” he said. 

Matt Huang, co-founder of Paradigm Operations LP, right, arrives at court in New York, US, on Thursday, Oct. 5, 2023. Former FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with seven counts of fraud and money laundering following the collapse of his cryptocurrency empire last year. Photographer: Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Yuki Iwamura | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Investment to zero

The third witness to take the stand was Matt Huang, co-founder and managing partner of Paradigm, a crypto venture capital firm that invested over $275 million in FTX. That stake was wiped out.

Huang testified about his firm’s due diligence on FTX, and he told the court that Bankman-Fried assured him that funds would be used for FTX and not Alameda. Additionally, he was promised that Alameda had no preferential treatment on the FTX platform, even though the hedge fund was one of its top traders.

Huang said he was concerned about FTX’s lack of a board of directors, but he eventually invested anyway. During cross-examination, Huang said Paradigm pressed Bankman-Fried on the board issue and was told he didn’t want investors as directors but he did plan on having a board with experts.

CNBC’s Dawn Giel contributed to this report.

Sam Bankman-Fried criminal trial begins in New York

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EU targets Russian energy with new sanctions — and welcomes Trump’s major policy shift

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EU targets Russian energy with new sanctions — and welcomes Trump’s major policy shift

A worker carries out maintenance tasks at the Eustream gas facility on February 25, 2025 in Velke Kapusany, Slovakia.

Robert Nemeti | Getty Images News | Getty Images

The European Union on Thursday launched a fresh round of sanctions against Russia for its war in Ukraine, joining the U.S. by targeting Moscow’s energy infrastructure.

The package of measures, which member states approved on Wednesday evening, includes a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports.

It comes shortly after U.S. President Donald Trump, in a major policy shift, announced new sanctions against Rosneft and Lukoil, two of Russia’s largest oil companies.

Trump told reporters on Wednesday that he felt it was the appropriate time to impose the measures, describing the sanctions as “tremendous” before adding that he hoped they wouldn’t be in place for long.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, welcomed the Trump administration’s sanctions on Russian oil companies, describing the policy as a “signal of strength.”

Speaking to CNBC’s “Europe Early Edition” on Thursday, Kallas said: “It is really depriving Russia of the means to fund this war and this is necessary to end this war.”

U.S. sanctions on Russia 'a good signal of strength': EU's Kallas

In a social media post, Kallas added that the EU’s latest sanctions package would target Russian banks, crypto exchanges and entities in India and China, among others.

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, meanwhile, said the bloc’s 19th package of sanctions, which were formally adopted on Thursday, would keep “the pressure high on the aggressor” of the Russia-Ukraine war.

“For the first time we are hitting Russia’s gas sector — the heart of its war economy. We will not relent until the people of Ukraine have a just and lasting peace,” von der Leyen said on Thursday.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen said the EU’s latest sanctions were a “decisive step” toward stopping Russia’s biggest revenue source of oil and gas, adding that U.S. sanctions on top will have a “severe impact” on the Russian economy.

The EU’s sanctions agreement, which took weeks to conclude, comes just hours before Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy joins his European counterparts for a one-day summit in Brussels, Belgium.

Oil prices pop

Oil prices jumped more than 3% on Thursday morning, extending gains from the previous session.

International benchmark Brent crude futures with December expiry traded 3.3% higher at $64.66 per barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures with December expiry stood at $60.46, also up around 3.3%.

EU formally adopts 19th set of sanctions on Russia

Tamas Varga, an analyst at PVM Oil Associates, described Trump’s move to sanction Rosneft and Lukoil as “significant,” saying it is the first time Trump has sanctioned the Russian oil industry.

“The market reaction was understandably bullish. It must be noted, nonetheless, that whenever Russian producers were targeted in the past by the EU or by the G7, there have always been willing offtakers of Russian oil,” Varga told CNBC by email.

“Sanctions on oil suppliers are most effective when coupled with pressure on consumers. For this reason, India’s decision to significantly reduce its purchases of Russian oil is almost as significant as the US-imposed measures on Russian oil companies,” he added.

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Amazon and Rivian’s e-bike startup ink deal to use pedal-powered delivery vans

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Amazon and Rivian's e-bike startup ink deal to use pedal-powered delivery vans

Rivian’s micromobility spinoff ALSO is attempting to make big moves in the small EV world, unveiling a new line of four-wheeled, pedal-assist electric quads aimed at both commercial and consumer markets. And in true Rivian fashion, these go beyond average cargo bikes, showing off sleek, tech-forward solutions ready to hit bike lanes instead of clogging up the streets.

The new platform is called the TM-Q, and it comes in two flavors: a commercial model and a consumer version. The commercial TM-Q is designed with delivery fleets in mind – think dense urban environments where full-size vans don’t make much sense anymore. ALSO says the quad is optimized for throughput, total cost of operations, and nimble handling in tight city spaces.

The consumer TM-Q, on the other hand, is pitched as a family-friendly alternative to a second car. It’s got space for errands, groceries, or even weekend fun, and it’s built with the same technology backbone as the delivery version. In other words, don’t think of this as a toy – it’s meant to be a seriously capable four-wheeled e-bike designed for real-world utility.

Perhaps the biggest news, though, is a multi-year partnership between ALSO and Amazon. The retail giant will deploy thousands of pedal-assist e-cargo quads across its 70+ micromobility hubs in the U.S. and Europe. The goals are lower emissions, reduced congestion, and quieter cities – all while maintaining fast, flexible delivery speeds.

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“Amazon already operates more than 70 micromobility hubs in cities across the U.S. and Europe. Micromobility solutions like pedal-assist e-cargo quads allow us to quickly deliver to customers in dense, urban cities, while helping reduce traffic and noise,” said Emily Barber, Director of Amazon’s Global Fleet. “Similar to our Rivian EDV partnership, working with ALSO provides an opportunity to continue to innovate in this space, building on our delivery logistics experience, paired with their advanced technology, safety, and performance features.”

If the Rivian electric van was Amazon’s big bet on sustainable delivery vans, this is their small bet – though with potentially big impacts. With ALSO’s TM-Q platform now rolling into view to join industry leaders like EAV, the era of four-wheeled, bike-lane-legal electric microvans could be accelerating faster than we think.

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China and India to face supply jolt as U.S. targets Russia’s oil giants

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China and India to face supply jolt as U.S. targets Russia's oil giants

General view of Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in the city of Orsk, Orenburg region, Russia Aug. 28, 2025.

Stringer | Reuters

U.S. decision to sanction Russia’s two largest oil companies threatens to disrupt the energy lifeline linking Moscow to its biggest customers in Asia, but without causing an immediate supply shock, industry experts told CNBC.

The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday levied sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil, citing Moscow’s “lack of serious commitment” to ending the war in Ukraine. The sanctions aim to “degrade” Kremlin’s ability to finance its war, the department said, signaling more measures could follow.

The government has set Nov. 21 as the deadline for winding down operations, which means companies have nearly a month to wrap up or cancel existing deals with Rosneft and Lukoil. That seems to be designed to avoid causing immediate chaos in the oil markets while applying pressure on Russia, said Bob McNally, President of Rapidan Energy Group.

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Rosneft and Lukoil together account for roughly half of Russia’s more than 4 million barrels a day of crude exports, volumes that have found steady homes in Asian markets since the West imposed a $60 price cap in late 2022, data provided by Vanda Insights showed. 

China imported about 2 million barrels per day of Russian oil in September, while India took around 1.6 million barrels per day.

“This is potentially a very significant escalation,” said Muyu Xu, senior crude oil analyst at commodities data analytics firm Kpler. “Trump’s sanctions on Rosneft and Lukoil [will] have significant implications for Russian seaborne crude exports, potentially prompting major buyers to scale back purchases — if not halt them entirely — in the near term,” she added.

In India, the sanctions are expected to hit several refiners directly tied to Russian supply. India’s state-run refiners — Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum as well as private giants such as Reliance Industries, HPCL-Mittal Energy Ltd., and Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), are among those most exposed, Kpler data showed.

Rosneft also owns nearly 50% of Nayara Energy Ltd., operator of the Vadinar refinery in Gujarat, and it may struggle with selling refined products, rather than obtaining crude.

Indian state-run refiners are currently scrutinizing their Russian oil trade paperwork to confirm that none of their supplies originate directly from Rosneft or Lukoil, Reuters reported on Thursday, following the announcement of the sanctions, citing a source with direct knowledge of the situation.

“India will likely need to walk away from its seaborne term agreements, while China’s pipeline flows may continue,” said Vortexa’s oil market analyst Emma Li.

Refiners in China will also have to exercise caution, energy experts said. All the state-owned enterprises will be careful about cargoes linked to Rosneft and Lukoil, Xu said.

China National Petroleum Corporation has agreements with Rosneft for pipeline supply, but no long-term contracts for seaborne crude, according to Vortexa.

“I don’t expect a complete shutdown of Russian crude flows, but a short-term and immediate hiatus seems inevitable,” said Xu.

Sanctions mean buyers will need to find new ways to move and pay for those shipments, which brings about extra costs and complications, and that’s exactly what the U.S. wants: to cut Moscow’s profits without completely stopping its exports, said McNally.

Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, Hindustan Petroleum, ONGC, Reliance Industries and China National Petroleum Corporation did not immediately respond to a CNBC’s requests for comment.

This is as high-profile as it gets and Washington cannot risk looking like a paper tiger.

Vandana Hari

Vanda Insights

China and India will have little choice but to turn mostly to U.S. and OPEC supplies, noted energy experts. “There is spare capacity within OPEC right now, especially Saudi Arabia. But the increased demand for the global non-sanctioned supply will raise prices,” John Kilduff, partner at Again Capital.

Oil prices jumped around 5% before paring gains slightly after Trump’s announcement. Global benchmark Brent was trading 3.71% higher at $64.91 per barrel at 2.00 a.m. ET, Thursday, while U.S. crude had climbed 3.93% to $60.8.

Founder of Vanda Insights, Vandana Hari, also said that the alternative for China and India was more Middle Eastern crude.

The new measures differ sharply from the G7’s earlier price-cap mechanism, which allowed Russian crude to flow as long as it was sold below $60 a barrel. “This appears to imply that you cannot buy Russian crude oil regardless of the price,” Kilduff said. “It’s a blanket ban.”

“This is as high-profile as it gets and Washington cannot risk looking like a paper tiger,” said Hari. “But a far bigger question is whether the sanctions will sustain … One Trump-Putin phone call could turn the situation by 180 degrees again.”

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