Sam Bankman-Fried was once hailed as a crypto industry prodigy, a self-made “altruistic” billionaire who hobnobbed with presidents and pop stars and had the ear of lawmakers of both parties in Washington DC.
Nearly one year after the FTX cryptocurrency empire collapsed, the 31-year-old will go on trial in New York this week accused of carrying out one of the largest corporate frauds in US history.
Prosecutors are expected to argue that Bankman-Fried siphoned billions of dollars from FTX customers to prop up ailing hedge fund Alameda Research, while also funding a life of luxury in the Bahamas.
They are expected to explain to jurors how he sought to gain political influence by making $100 million in political donations before the 2020 presidential election to ensure light regulation in the crypto industry
In December, Bankman-Fried was arrested at his $40 million apartment complex in Nassau and indicted on fraud, money laundering and campaign finance charges. He was extradited back to the US, and is under house arrest at his parents' Palo Alto home on $250 million bail.
In 2019, it launched the FTX trading platform which was promoted to investors as a trusted and straightforward exchange. It makes money by claiming a percentage of transactions.
As Bitcoin's value soared in 2021, FTX became one of the world's largest crypto traders valued at around $32 billion.
Mr Bankman-Fried's profile soared as he amassed a net worth of around $16 billion while receiving fawning media coverage for his so-called “altruistic” beliefs and violent lifestyle.
FTX recruited a group of celebrity endorsers including Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady, hired Larry Davis to front an expensive Super Bowl commercial, and acquired the naming rights to the Miami Heat's home arena.
Bankman-Fried made about $100 million in political donations to both parties, while trying to influence cryptocurrency regulatory reform, prosecutors said in court filings.
When crypto prices plummeted in 2022, cracks began to appear in the SBF empire.
In November, crypto trade publication Coindesk published a leaked balance sheet showing that Alameda and FTX were “very close” and that Alameda’s value was built on a “foundation consisting largely of (digital) coins created by its sister companies.”
The story sent shockwaves throughout the crypto world, and FTX customers raced to withdraw their funds, exposing an $8 billion deficit in FTX accounts.
Mr Bankman-Fried's personal wealth fell by about $16 billion in a single day on November 8. Within days, FTX filed for bankruptcy days later and Bankman-Fried stepped down as CEO.