‘I didn’t have to lie anymore’—FTX Collapse was a relief, says Carolyn Ellison.

While much of the jury's attention was consumed by alternative accounting records and task lists during Caroline Ellison's testimony, a tissue drawn by the former Alameda Research CEO Wednesday afternoon marked a break from strong answers throughout her time on the stand.

“I was in constant fear,” she testified.

Ellison is the government's star witness in the case against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the once-dominant cryptocurrency exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried faces seven criminal charges related to the exchange's collapse. In the year In 2019, Alameda used billions in client funds to cover losses at its trading desk.

“I knew we had to take the money from our FTX line of credit and I knew that money was callable at any time,” Ellison testified today. “And every day I was concerned about the possibility of my FTX clients withdrawing and the possibility of this withdrawal and what would happen to the people affected by this.”

After it became clear that Alameda and FTX would not survive the deadly customer outages they suffered last November, she began to cry and her voice shook as she talked about the emotional weight. Ellison testified that her boss and on-again-off-again boyfriend, Bankman-Fried, told her to use FTX client funds to plug a hole in Alameda's balance sheet. The alleged fraud resulted in $8 billion in losses for customers holding cryptocurrency on the exchange.

“I felt relieved because I didn't have to lie anymore,” she said through tears, adding that worrying about the people who were losing their jobs and their clients was a heavy burden.

A conversation between Bankman-Fried and Ellison soon appeared as evidence. It focused on FTX and the final days of Alameda. The former Alameda CEO told Bankman-Fried that she was in her “good mood” for more than a year when the two firms collided.

“W…uh…congratulations…because it's fun?” Bankman-Fried responded.

Federal prosecutors wrapped up Ellison's direct testimony later in the day. And after about 15 minutes of cross-examination focused on how Alameda recorded the cash flow, the government called it bad.

“Objection, your honor,” said Assistant United States Attorney Danielle Sassoon. “This is confusing.”

Admitting the day was long, judge Lewis Kaplan suggested a 30-minute delay for anyone complaining. The former crypto mogul's defense team is expected to pick up where he left off tomorrow.