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Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, leaves Manhattan Federal Court after testifying during the trial of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, on October 10, 2023 in New York City. 

Michael M. Santiago | Getty Images

In an all-hands meeting on the evening of Nov. 9, 2022, Alameda Research employees gathered in a circle to listen to CEO Caroline Ellison, who was sitting on a beanbag.

It was 11 p.m. in Hong Kong, and roughly half of the employees — 15 people — at Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund were present. Christian Drappi, a former software engineer at Alameda, was one of them. Ten others joined via video from the Bahamas. The Alameda office was across the street from FTX, Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange.

On Thursday, Drappi took the stand as a government witness in the criminal trial against Bankman-Fried, which is taking place 11 months after Alameda and FTX spiraled into bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried faces seven federal fraud charges and the potential of life in prison. He’s pleaded not guilty.

Drappi’s appearance on the stand in Manhattan came at the end of Ellison’s third day of testimony and included a recording of the Hong Kong meeting. Rick Best, a trader who had joined Alameda just days earlier, was directly to Ellison’s right and secretly recording the meeting as audio.

The prosecution played multiple clips from the recording, and the defense team played one in cross-examination.

To a packed courtroom, Drappi described Ellison’s demeanor that night as “sunken.” He said she was “kinda slouching” and “did not display confident body language.”

“Alameda borrowed a bunch of money,” which it used to make investments, Ellison said on the recording. But as crypto prices fell, “FTX had a shortfall of user funds” and then “users started withdrawing their funds” and they “realized they would not be able to continue.”

Drappi can be heard on the tape asking about FTX’s plan to pay back customers. Ellison, who has pleaded guilty to fraud charges and is cooperating with prosecutors, responded that the company would raise money to fill the hole. Drappi told the jury that he was concerned with that response because it’s not typical to raise outside money for that purpose.

Drappi asked Ellison if Alameda’s loans were collateralized through the spot margin group. She said they weren’t, and Drappi said, “That seems pretty bad.”

Drappi wanted to know from Ellison if this was a “YOLO thing.”

He was asked in the courtroom to explain YOLO, and said, “It’s an acronym for ‘you only live once.'”

“When you do a YOLO thing, it’s something that’s spontaneous and not premeditated,” Drappi said. “I wanted to have Ms. Ellison confirm that indeed, you know, they had meetings about this and there was a deliberate decision, as I suspected it would be.”

At one point on the recording, Ellison giggled. Drappi, who said he’d known Ellison for a year and a half, described that as her “nervous laughter” and said she did it quite often.

When she was asked by a staffer whose idea it was to plug Alameda’s loan losses with FTX customer money, she said, “Um, Sam, I guess,” and giggled.

“FTX basically always allowed Alameda to, like, borrow user funds, as far as I know” she said on the recording.

Drappi resigned within 24 hours.

Caroline Ellison is questioned 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 11, 2023 in this courtroom sketch. 

Jane Rosenberg | Reuters

Drappi started at Alameda on May 31, 2021. Over the next 18 months, he worked in three offices: Hong Kong, the Bahamas and San Francisco. He was in Hong Kong as the business was falling apart.

In his testimony, Drappi said he observed Bankman-Fried working at the Hong Kong office and sat about 40 feet from him there for a couple months. The two hung out some out of the office, including to play padel, a hybrid of tennis and squash.

Drappi said Bankman-Fried maintained direct communications with Alameda employees through Signal. He weighed in on large trades and had access to “pointer,” Alameda’s internal interface, as well as to the firm’s back-end data.

In regards to trading, Drappi referenced one instance in which a senior trader said “Sam wanted to do it,” referring to a trade involving selling Japanese bonds and buying the currency. Drappi said he spoke to Alameda traders every day.

The night before the all-hands meeting, Nov. 8, Drappi said he was in the office along with Ellison and two traders, Tony Qian and David Nyeste. At about 11 p.m., Bankman-Fried posted a tweet announcing that Binance was buying FTX, in what would amount to a rescue of the exchange.

Drappi said the response was “shock.”

The Binance agreement was non-binding. On Nov. 9, the rival exchange backed out of the deal, and CEO Changpeng Zhao said FTX’s “issues are beyond our control or ability to help.” Two days later FTX declared bankruptcy.

WATCH: Caroline Ellison details SBF’s involvement in running Alameda

Caroline Ellison details SBF's involvement in running Alameda Research: CNBC Crypto World

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Porsche’s EV sales took a hit last year, but the electric Macan sparks hope

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Porsche's EV sales took a hit last year, but the electric Macan sparks hope

Although sales of Porsche’s first EV, the Taycan, fell nearly 50% in 2024, things could be looking up for the sports car maker. After its “launch literally electrified us,” the electric Porsche Macan may spark a comeback this year.

Why did Porsche’s EV sales drop in 2024?

Porsche delivered over 310,700 vehicles globally last year, or about 9,500 less than in 2023. Sales in China led the downfall, plunging 28% from the prior year amid a wave of low-cost domestic EVs entering the market.

In total, Porsche delivered 20,836 Taycan EVs to customers last year, down 49% from 2023. The lower total comes after launching the upgraded 2025 Taycan last year. Porsche also said, “The ramp-up of electric mobility is generally proceeding more slowly than planned” as part of the reason.

In its largest sales market, North America, Porsche delivered over 86,500 vehicles in 2024. Although that’s up a mere 1% from 2023, Porsche’s EV sales also took a hit.

Porsche sold 4,747 Taycan models in the US last year, 37% fewer than in 2023. The 2025 model began arriving at US dealerships last Summer, which helped push sales up nearly 75% in the fourth quarter to 2,358.

Porsche's-EV-sales-2024
2025 Porsche Taycan (Source: Porsche)

Meanwhile, Porsche’s second EV, the electric Macan, could have an even bigger impact. After delivering the first models at the end of September, Porsche delivered 18,278 electric Macans by the end of 2024.’

“This launch literally electrified us. I am therefore particularly pleased that more than 18,000 examples of the all-electric variant have already been delivered,” Porsche AG board member for sales and marketing, Detlev von Platen, said.

Porsche's-EV-sales-2024
Porsche Macan Electric (Source: Porsche)

Porsche sold 2,771 electric Macan SUVs in the US last year. On a call with reporters (via Automotive News), the company’s North American CEO, Timo Resch, said, “A lot of the consumers that come into the Macan Electric are [new to the] brand.”

Electrek’s Take

I’m not here to say the electric Macan will be Porsche’s savior, but the strong sales start is promising. Porsche has already backtracked on plans for 80% of deliveries to be electric by 2030.

According to recent reports, the electric Cayenne, due out in 2026, could be delayed depending on market demand. The upcoming 718 Cayman and Boxster EVs could also face delays as Porsche plans to keep gas and hybrid models alive longer than expected.

Looking ahead, Porsche also plans to introduce an ultra-luxury electric SUV to sit above the Cayenne, codenamed “K1” internally. It’s expected to compete with Range Rover and Ferrari’s first electric SUVs.

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Elon Musk complains Tesla is not getting subsidies for electric truck chargers while calling for end of EV subsidies

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Elon Musk complains Tesla is not getting subsidies for electric truck chargers while calling for end of EV subsidies

Elon Musk complains that Tesla is not getting subsidies for its electric truck chargers while calling for the end of electric vehicle subsidies in the US.

Earlier this week, the Biden administration released the last round of funding for electric vehicle charging stations before the President leaves office.

Tesla has been trying to secure part of that funding for its TESSERACT project, which was first announced in 2023 to create a corridor of 9 charging stations for electric trucks between California and Texas.

However, it wasn’t included in any round of funding, including the latest one announced this week, which should be the latest now that Trump is getting into office and campaigned on ending electric vehicle subsidies.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk contributed more than $240 million to get Trump elected and supported his goal of removing subsidies for electric vehicles.

That’s why it’s surprising to see Musk comment on the news in disappointment. He wrote on X: “Hear we go again (sigh)”.

While this specific project wasn’t funded, 49 other projects shared over $600 million in funding that will deploy more than 11,500 EV charging ports across 27 states, four federally recognized tribes, and the District of Columbia.

Also, while Tesla didn’t get any funding in this round, Tesla has received millions in funding for its charging stations in the previous round.

Electrek’s Take

I think that’s fair. If you are actively lobbying for the end of EV subsidies in the US, a market that is far behind the rest of the world in EV adoption, why should the administration that is investing in correcting that give you the subsidies you are trying to end?

It makes no sense. That’s why I also support California in signaling that if the Federal government removes its EV subsidies, it will replace them at the state level, but Tesla will be left out.

It’s especially fair considering Elon has made it clear that the reason he wants to kill EV subsidies, which Tesla was the biggest beneficiary of, is that he believes it will put more pressure on the competition than Tesla and potentially kill them while only Tesla will remain.

He basically wants to pull the ladder that Tesla used to get where it is now to prevent others from using it.

“Subsidies for me, not for thee” – Elon’s new motto.

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New York is now coming for your fast and heavy electric bikes

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New York is now coming for your fast and heavy electric bikes

The US electric bike industry has already seen a regulation-heavy start to 2025. Now, New York Governor Kathy Hochul’s potential new restrictions on fast and exceedingly heavy electric bikes could add to the proposed and enacted legislation we’ve seen lately.

Hochul proposed in her State of the State address yesterday that Class 3 electric bikes weighing over 100 lb (45 kg) be excluded from existing electric bicycle regulations and instead be treated more like mopeds.

That would mean imposing motor vehicle regulations resulting in licensing and registration requirements, as well as disallowing their use in bike lanes.

The governor explained that this new regulation would ideally help increase the safety of bike lanes, according to Streetsblog NYC.

wallke h6 electric bike

As a reminder, Class 1 and Class 2 e-bikes can reach a top speed of 20 mph (32 km/h) on motor power, with Class 2 e-bikes including a throttle that allows motor use without requiring the pedals to be used. In most states, Class 3 e-bikes can reach higher speeds of up to 28 mph (45 km/h) with pedal assist but not throttle. However, New York State has stricter Class 3 limits that provide for speeds up to just 25 mph (40 km/h).

The proposed new regulations would only target Class 3 e-bikes that exceed the suggested weight limit of 100 lb (45 kg).

Most electric bikes weigh well under 100 lb (45 kg). Common e-bikes seen regularly on US streets and bike lanes weigh between 50-75 lb (23 to 34 kg). However, there are some e-bike models available on the market that can reach or exceed 100 lb (45 kg). We’ve tested a few of them.

Such heavy electric bikes are usually visually similar to mopeds and light electric motorcycles, often featuring large tires, heavy motors, dual suspension, chunky frames, and other components that add significant weight. However, many heavy electric bicycles are limited to 20 mph (32 km/h), and could exceed the arbitrary 100 lb (45 kg) proposed limit while still not falling under this proposed regulation due to their Class 2 designation.

Dual motors, dual batteries, extra chunky, but still under 100 lb

Electrek’s Take

At face value, there’s some logic to this. A 100 lb electric bike has a lot more rolling mass than a 50 lb electric bike, and you can guess which one I’d rather get hit by. Though at the same time, when the rider nearly always weighs more than the vehicle, the weight of the e-bike certainly has a lower relevance to its safety. With a 200 lb (91 kg) rider on both bikes, we’re only talking about a relatively small 20% difference in mass.

And it’s a bit telling that there wasn’t much discussion in the State of the State address about any other road safety issues, certainly not about the several thousand-pound cars that actually kill many New Yorkers every year.

I’m not saying I don’t support reasonable regulations to ensure the safety of everyone, in the bike lanes and outside of them. But let’s get real here. The percentage of electric bikes that are 100+ lb is tiny, likely under 1-2% of all e-bikes on the road. And that’s a tiny slice of an entire pie that is itself a tiny slice of the injury-causing-vehicle pie. So I’m not saying there isn’t any good regulation opportunity out there for e-bikes. But this is all fluff on top of fluff if you think it’s actually about making a meaningful impact on road safety. If they really cared about better protecting cyclists, governments would enforce existing laws to prevent cars from killing them so frequently.

These types of clumsy, heavy-handed regulations are just that – quick and dirty attempts to appear to be working towards a solution, when in fact they are largely meaningless in their ultimate impact on protecting lives.

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