Entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried intends to build a defense in the continuing legal battle involving cryptocurrency exchange FTX and its creator based on the idea of “good faith.” Bankman-Fried claims that when he made loans to FTX and Alameda executives, enabled Signal messages to automatically erase, and created a number of North American businesses, he was acting in good faith. He asserts that these decisions were made in accordance with legal counsel from lawyers, notably the firm Fenwick & West.
The defense team for Bankman-Fried recently made a letter public that described their proposed “advice of counsel” tactic. The letter states that they will provide proof that both in-house and Fenwick & West lawyers “were involved in reviewing and approving decisions related to these matters.” The letter stresses that, going beyond instances when formal legal advice was explicitly sought, received, and followed, the defendant’s reliance on counsel is important to the question of purpose.
Fenwick & West was contacted by CoinDesk for comment, but as of right now, no response has been received.
The defense team for Bankman-Fried also responded to the Department of Justice’s request for more details on their plan of attack in the letter. They noted that prior attempts by the defense team to obtain material from Fenwick & West had been rebuffed by the prosecution.
Following Bankman-Fried’s recent court appearance, where he entered a not guilty plea to the most current superseding indictment, this legal dispute has just begun. The counts in this indictment include conspiracy and wire fraud. The trial is set to begin in early October, and both the Bitcoin community and legal experts will be closely watching its conclusion.
