SBF tells jury he didn't take FTX customer money but 'a lot of people got hurt'

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried told a jury Friday that he didn’t commit fraud and didn’t take customer funds, beginning his defense against criminal charges that he stole billions from his cryptocurrency exchange and spent the money on investments, political donations, and real estate.

He did, however, say that he "made a number of small mistakes and a number of big mistakes." His biggest mistake, he said, was not having a chief risk officer.

"A lot of people got hurt," he said.

His highly-anticipated testimony began Friday morning with questions from his attorney Mark Cohen that attempted to address the heart of the government’s case against his client.

Prosecutors have alleged that Bankman-Fried deliberately stole funds that belonged to FTX customers and secretly lent the assets to his crypto trading firm Alameda Research. They produced several key witnesses over the last month who corroborated those claims.

Cohen on Friday asked his client if he defrauded anyone.

"No, I didn’t," Bankman-Fried said.

Then Cohen asked if Bankman-Fried took customer funds.

"No," Bankman-Fried said.

Bankman-Fried, wearing a suit and tie, faced a jury for the first time Friday after the judge overseeing the criminal trial said he would allow the FTX founder to testify about some legal advice he received while running the cryptocurrency exchange.

Thursday, in a hearing without the jury present, the 31-year-old entrepreneur said FTX lawyers had a hand in drafting the company’s policies that he then followed.

Bankman-Fried said during that hearing that he believed that his crypto trading firm Alameda Research was allowed to borrow customer money deposited with FTX due to a "terms of service" document and another non-public agreement drafted with help from FTX’s top lawyer.

Criminal defense attorney Adam Kamenstein said an attempt to cast some level of blame on his lawyers could backfire.

"It's a cliche...it’s a story that’s been told many times — and it’s not a defense."