FTX co-founder Wang discusses the appeal of financial concepts in the SBF trial.

The sixth day of the Sam Bankman-Fried trial saw the conclusion of testimony from former FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang and the start of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison. Wang testified about the plea agreement, among other things.

According to Inner City Press on X (formerly Twitter), Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas Ross asked Wang, “In your first meeting with the government, did you admit to committing a crime with the defendant?” he asked. Wang replied that he did.

“What were you told to do?” Russ asked.

“To tell the truth or not get a 5K letter or worse,” Wang replied.

A “5K letter” refers to a petition filed by the government under Section 5K1.1 of the United States Sentencing Guidelines, which is a policy statement of “substantial assistance to authorities.” The government allows “appropriate reduction” to one sentence, taking into account different types of cooperation.

Related: Caroline Ellison accuses Sam Bankman-Fried of misusing FTX beneficiary funds during trial

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams announced on December 21, 2022 that Wang and Ellison were indicted “in connection with the fraud that contributed to the collapse of FTX.” The two accused have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with the government's investigation.

Russ Wang pleaded guilty to four counts, including conspiracy. “Conspired with who,” Russ asked. “With Sam [former FTX engineering director] Entertainment [Singh] And Caroline,” Wang said.

Live tweeting of Ellison's testimony will continue at 2:00 p.m. Inner CIty Press is covering the case and the filing: see this feed – 2pm and up…

— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 10, 2023

In another trial report, Wang said he met with government officials 18 times. The first two meetings were with representatives from the Department of Justice, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, and Bankuman-Fried's Nov. 7 tweet said, “FTX is good. It was true that the assets are good.

Wang later said the tweet was true but misleading. They said it was not possible to liquidate the exchange's FTT token because selling that much would cause the token's value to drop.

Previously, Bankuman-Fried's defense attorney asked Wang, “Do you know the difference between dilution and liquidity?” he asked. Wang replied that he did.

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