The Sam Bankman-Fried trial moves into the final stages.

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried is reaching its final stage in the next few days, after the prosecutor has examined about 20 witnesses in the case and has scheduled their case for October 26.

Prosecutors have gathered witnesses over the past three weeks, including former FTX employees, customers, investors, government officials and law enforcement. The central argument behind the decisions that led to the $8 billion split between FTX and Alameda Research in November 2022 is that Banman-Fried deliberately misled them.

As for Bankman-Fried's defense, they still haven't confirmed whether to drop the charges. Lawyers are not required to present a defense in a criminal trial. His legal team is expected to file a lawsuit on October 26.

Bankman-Fried counsel, led by Mark Cohen and Christian Everdale, struggled to present a narrative to the jury. His former close friends, including lawyers Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Adam Yedidia and Gary Wang, missed crucial arguments during cross-examination. In cooperation with the government, the group accused Banman-Fried of instructing them to commit crimes.

A lawyer who attended the trial told Cointelegraph that there was a 95% chance of a conviction when the government launched a case, underscoring the challenge facing the defense. Prosecutors, however, have the burden of proving the alleged crimes.

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One of the key issues in court last week was the testimony of a former FTX engineering director. Singh told jurors that Banman-Fried directed him to make millionaire investments with loans from Alameda. According to Singh, he did not know that the money was linked to FTX customer deposits. Singh faces up to 75 years in prison for defrauding crypto exchange users.

Earlier this week, District Judge Lewis Kaplan saw lawyers representing both sides run out of patience after a fugitive witness from Texas testified for about 15 minutes.

“This morning we had a witness who knew nothing…and this afternoon we had someone come in from Texas. […] He knows nothing or next to nothing,” Judge Kaplan complained about the tactics of the prosecution and defense witnesses.

Also in the past few days, FTX's former general counsel Kan Sun has provided Bankman-Fried and other executives with a spreadsheet used to track $2.1 billion in loans. Khan told jurors he did not know about the exchange's merger with Alameda. He is cooperating with the government on the issue.

Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted of fraud and embezzlement.

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