Nishad Singh testifies to ‘excessive’ spending at Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial Nishad Singh testifies to ‘excessive’ spending at Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial
The former director of engineering at FTX claims to have disapproved of Bankman-Fried's lavish spending.
2 min read
Updated: Oct. 16, 2023 at 9:03 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Nishad Singh, the former director of engineering at FTX, testified in the case of ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried on Oct. 16.
During his testimony, Singh confessed to committing several crimes, such as fraud and campaign finance violations, which were purportedly carried out in collaboration with Bankman-Fried and others. Singh reached a plea deal with prosecutors in February, months after two other FTX associates did the same.
Singh testified that his time at FTX made him a billionaire while admitting to receiving loans and spending exchange money on large purchases and donations.
As testimony shifted to focus on Bankman-Fried, Singh described the FTX leader as a “formidable character” and said that he “came to distrust him.”
Singh claimed that Bankman-Fried was the ultimate decision-maker for Alameda Research despite Caroline Ellison being the company’s CEO. Singh said that Bankman-Fried unilaterally spent Alameda’s funds and had one computer screen dedicated to Alameda. He added that Bankman-Fried threatened to fire Ellison from the firm.
Singh describes spending as “excessive”
Singh described Bankman-Fried’s spending as “excessive” and said that he would have complained of the spending’s “flashiness” if he had been fully aware of it.
He went on to detail various investments. According to CNBC, spreadsheets showed that FTX spending included $1 billion to Genesis’ mining operations, $499 million to Anthropic’s AI safety goals, and $1.3 billion to celebrity sponsorship deals.
Singh commented on millions of dollars spent on real estate, including an infamous penthouse purchase. Singh described the penthouse as “ostentatious,” while Bankman-Fried allegedly said that he would spend $100 million to end any drama around it.
Other investments included hundreds of millions of dollars to the VC firm K5 and its operators. Singh described his opposition to the transfer and said that he asked if it could be reversed; Bankman-Fried supposedly told him that the transfer was complete.
That spending took place as Bankman-Fried built close relationships with the operators of K5, Michael Kives and Bryan Baum. Singh said that Bankman-Fried attended a Super Bowl party that was hosted by Kives and attended by celebrities and politicians. He additionally said that he also saw Kives and Baum in FTX’s Bahamas penthouse.
Singh remained on the witness stand at the time of publication. CryptoSlate‘s coverage of the trial will continue as information becomes available.
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Mike Dalton
Before transitioning to crypto writing in 2018, Mike studied library and information sciences. Currently, he resides on Canada's West Coast.
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FTX
FTX is a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, currently in bankruptcy proceedings, that was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried and Zixiao “Gary” Wang in May 2019.
Alameda Research
Alameda Research was once a principal trading firm, operating as an arm of the failed crypto exchange, FTX.
Sam Bankman-Fried is the former CEO, and co-founder of defunct crypto exchange FTX and Alameda Research.