US prosecutors have pounced on public statements made by Sam Bankman-Fried as they cross-examined him about the collapse of his crypto empire.

They said there were inconsistencies between his media remarks and how his crypto exchange FTX was managed.

The 31-year-old is accused of lying to investors and lenders and stealing money from customers, with several ex-colleagues testifying against him.

He denies that and says he was acting in good faith but made mistakes.

As the founder and CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried won over presidents, pop stars, and princes. On Friday, he faced his toughest audience yet: a jury of his peers.

Bankman-Fried took the stand Friday following a dry run Thursday in front of federal Judge Lewis Kaplan and attorneys on both sides of his fraud case. Kaplan barred the former billionaire from pinning several of his alleged missteps on advice from his company’s lawyers, but otherwise let him speak widely about his experience as head of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, testified Friday that many mistakes were made that led to the collapse of the business and the disappearance of $8 billion in customer money, but he denied that any fraud occurred.

Taking the stand in his own defense in his criminal fraud trial, the 31-year-old Bankman-Fried explained that FTX’s risk-management structure came unwound, but he attempted to couch that as a failure that resulted because the company had grown too rapidly.

FTX crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried was rebuked by the judge multiple times while testifying in his fraud and money laundering trial on Friday.

United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan interrupted Bankman-Fried several times during his testimony for giving long, rambling answers in response to defense attorney Mark Cohen's questions. At one point, Kaplan rejected Bankman-Fried's definition of market manipulation, telling the jury, “You will take what I say manipulation means," according to the Washington Post.

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, plans to make another high-stakes gamble and testify in his own defense at his criminal fraud trial.

Bankman-Fried's decision to take the stand comes after three weeks of devastating testimony for the 31-year-old accused of stealing billions of dollars from clients.

Prosecutors told Judge Lewis Kaplan that they will wrap up their case on Thursday and hand over to the defense, which said it plans to call four witnesses, including Bankman-Fried.

Caroline Ellison, a former close associate of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, called the final days of the crypto exchange the “worst week of my life,” tearfully telling a federal jury Wednesday that she had dreaded the public learning of the lies she told to cover up the theft of billions of dollars. 

Sam Bankman-Fried’s confidants were along for the ride. At his side was Caroline Ellison, Alameda’s CEO and his on-again, off-again lover.

Ellison, too, projected tech bro-like eccentricities, waxing philosophical about free love and drugs. She wrote in a now-notorious tweet.:

Nothing like regular amphetamine use to make you appreciate how dumb a lot of normal, non-medicated human experience is.

A federal judge revoked FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s bail and sent him to jail Friday.

The decision ended a monthslong battle between the Justice Department and the onetime crypto entrepreneur over his behavior while awaiting trial on fraud charges.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said at a hearing in New York that Bankman-Fried pushed the limits of his bail conditions repeatedly and possibly committed a federal crime.

“There is probable cause to believe that the defendant has attempted to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” Kaplan said.

Embattled FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has had his bail revoked and will be placed back under arrest.

Judge Lewis Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York reportedly ordered the 31-year-old's bail be revoked on Friday over accusations that he attempted to intimidate witnesses. Bankman-Fried was arrested last year on fraud allegations stemming from his management of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which suddenly collapsed in 2022.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried left a federal courtroom in handcuffs Friday after a judge revoked his bail after concluding that the fallen cryptocurrency wiz had repeatedly tried to influence witnesses against him.

Bankman-Fried looked down at his hands as Judge Lewis A. Kaplan explained at length why he believed the California man had repeatedly pushed the boundaries of his $250 million bail package to a point that Kaplan could no longer ensure the protection of the community, including prosecutors’ witnesses, unless the 31-year-old was behind bars.