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Sam Bankman-Fried- Case Archive
personpersonGary WangGary WangCo-founder and former chief technical officer of FTX, and a co-founder of Alameda Research.← All People
WitnessFTX and Alameda Research

Gary Wang

Co-founder and former chief technical officer of FTX, and a co-founder of Alameda Research.

AppearedFederal Criminal Trial
2,060 lines·47 proceedings·38 mentions

About

Gary Wang testified for the prosecution from Day 3 through Day 5 as an FTX co-founder and chief technical officer. He admitted committing wire, securities, and commodities fraud with Samuel Bankman-Fried, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison, and disclosed his guilty pleas and cooperation agreement.

On direct examination, Wang described code and database settings that allowed Alameda to maintain negative balances, avoid automatic liquidation, and draw on a credit line exceeding $65 billion. He testified that these privileges were undisclosed, attributed key changes to Bankman-Fried, and said Alameda's withdrawals used customer funds. He also addressed an insurance-fund display that did not match the actual fund, a corrected June 2022 balance showing Alameda roughly $11 billion negative, later discussions of approximately $14 billion in borrowing, the November withdrawal crisis, an approximately $8 billion exchange shortfall, and public assurances he considered inaccurate. After FTX entered bankruptcy, Wang said Bankman-Fried told him to stall the U.S. bankruptcy team, ignore its direction not to transfer assets, and continue transfers to Bahamian regulators, whom Bankman-Fried considered friendlier and more likely to leave him in control of the company.

Cross-examination placed Alameda's account features in an operational context. Wang agreed that Alameda performed market-making, stablecoin-conversion, liquidity, and backstop functions, and that its liquidation exemption and credit line served operational purposes. He also acknowledged that correcting an accounting bug produced a positive overall net asset value and that Bankman-Fried's assessment of Alameda's holdings affected his belief that withdrawals might be permissible, while qualifying that some assets were illiquid, difficult to place on FTX, or subject to uncertain valuations.

The defense examined Wang's loan documents, government interviews, guilty pleas, meetings with prosecutors, and hope for sentencing consideration under his cooperation agreement. It also tested his recollection of prior descriptions of Alameda's settings and a November assets statement, which he maintained was misleading despite having initially called it true. Further questioning addressed promissory notes and related investments; Wang expressed uncertainty about resulting ownership, and the court clarified his indirect interest through his 10 percent Alameda ownership and his limited understanding of Bankman-Fried's explanation for one note.

Trial Record (47)

FederalFederal Criminal TrialOct 3, 2023 – Nov 2, 2023Called by prosecution

Gary Wang testified as an FTX co-founder and cooperating prosecution witness about Alameda's special account privileges, its use of customer funds, the exchange shortfall, and directions he attributed to Bankman-Fried. Cross-examination examined operational rationales, asset valuations, promissory notes, prior statements, and Wang's incentives under his cooperation agreement.

Day 2

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Day 4

DirectGary Wang — DirectGary WangNicolas Roos7highlights880lines spoken

Summary

Gary Wang testified that Alameda received undisclosed code privileges and a line of credit exceeding $65 billion, used customer funds, accumulated multibillion-dollar shortfalls, and remained central to FTX's withdrawal crisis and post-bankruptcy asset transfers.

Highlights (7)

testimony highlightWang explained Alameda's four code-based advantages, testified that they were not disclosed to the public, investors, or customers, and said Alameda's negative balance represented withdrawals of customer money.Open in transcript →
Quote“He did not look at it, but he was——we told him——he asked us to do it and then we told him we did it.”— Gary WangWang directly attributed the allow-negative code change to Bankman-Fried's request and said Bankman-Fried was informed after it was completed.Open in transcript →
testimony highlightWang testified that FTX's public insurance-fund figure was calculated separately from the real fund using trading volume and a random multiplier, produced a higher figure, and was not disclosed as inaccurate to customers.Open in transcript →
Quote“I mean, either from Alameda's FTX account or from Alameda's accounts elsewhere, but either way, the money——all the money came from FTX customers.”— Gary WangWang testified about the source of funds available for Alameda's lender repayments after the June 2022 balance review.Open in transcript →
Show all 7 highlights
testimony highlightWang described September discussions about shutting down Alameda, testified that Caroline Ellison reported $14 billion in borrowing, and said Alameda could not close because it lacked assets sufficient to repay that amount.Open in transcript →
confrontationWang testified that after bankruptcy Bankman-Fried told him to stall the U.S. bankruptcy team, ignore instructions not to transfer assets, and continue transfers directed toward Bahamian authorities.Open in transcript →
Quote“Ideally, no prison time.”— Gary WangWang plainly stated the sentencing outcome he hoped to obtain while testifying under a cooperation agreement.Open in transcript →
CrossGary Wang — CrossGary WangChristian R. Everdell2highlights198lines spoken

Summary

The defense presented operational reasons for Alameda's special FTX account features, while Wang confirmed their scale, described relying on Sam's judgment about Alameda borrowing, and clarified customer-fiat and stablecoin mechanics.

Highlights (2)

Quote“The stablecoin conversions wasn't really market making per se. It was for facilitating customers' money to do a deposit and withdrawal, different forms of stablecoins for USD.”— Gary WangWang resisted counsel's market-making label while supplying an operational explanation for Alameda's allow-negative feature.Open in transcript →
Quote“Well, the first——the first time, we picked a number so high that it would never be hit, that kind of number was picked was 1 billion, and then it was hit again, and then the number picked was 65 billion.”— Gary WangWang explained how repeated increases culminated in Alameda's $65 billion credit limit.Open in transcript →

Day 5

CrossGary Wang — CrossGary WangChristian R. Everdell6highlights628lines spoken

Summary

The defense used Alameda balance calculations, promissory notes, Wang's earlier statements, and his cooperation history to argue for solvency and operational explanations while challenging his credibility and incentive to assist prosecutors.

Highlights (6)

evidence eventThe defense introduced a Bitcoin price graph, and Wang agreed that cryptocurrency prices fell sharply around May and June 2022 as Alameda's lenders sought repayment.Open in transcript →
admissionWang testified that customer deposits remained customer-owned and that conversations with Sam later led him to think Alameda withdrawals might be permissible when its total FTX holdings, including FTT, had positive value.Open in transcript →
Quote“In late 2019, when I talked to Sam about Alameda's negative balances and Sam said it was fine as long as -- if you include the value of all -- if you include the value of all of Alameda's holdings on FTX, including FTT, if that was positive, if the total value was positive, then it was fine. That influenced -- that made me think that it was maybe fine for Alameda to be withdrawing funds.”— Gary WangWang described how Sam's position affected his understanding of whether Alameda could withdraw funds despite negative balances.Open in transcript →
evidence eventNine promissory notes signed by Wang were admitted. One published note reflected an approximately $35 million obligation, annual interest, Wang's signature, and Caroline's signature for Alameda.Open in transcript →
Show all 6 highlights
Quote“I mean, I was told that there were advantages to acting quickly but it was not necessary for cooperation.”— Gary WangWang acknowledged advice that moving quickly could help while qualifying the defense's account of his incentive to cooperate.Open in transcript →
confrontationThe defense examined Wang's cooperation incentive, establishing five initial proffer sessions, four guilty pleas carrying a stated maximum of 50 years, continued preparation meetings, and his hope for a government sentencing letter.Open in transcript →
RedirectGary Wang — RedirectGary WangNicolas Roos1highlight176lines spoken

Summary

Gary Wang testified that Alameda's special privileges supported billions in non-market-making withdrawals, its balance depended partly on illiquid FTT, and he admitted crimes with Bankman-Fried before obtaining a cooperation agreement.

Highlights (1)

Quote“I was given them to sign, they said it was for an investment, and I believed them and they wanted me to sign, so I just signed it.”— Gary WangWang explained why he executed large loan documents despite not knowing their specific purposes.Open in transcript →
colloquyCourt's Examination of Gary WangGary Wang1highlight13lines spoken

Summary

The court questioned Gary Wang about a $35 million promissory note, the uncertain investment behind it, whether Wang received any proceeds or assets, and Alameda Research's ownership.

Highlights (1)

Quote“Some company that Sam wanted to invest in, but I don't recall.”— Gary WangWang attributed the intended investment to Sam while emphasizing that he could not recall the company involved.Open in transcript →
colloquyCourt's Examination of Gary WangGary Wang1highlight6lines spoken

Summary

The court clarified Wang's indirect interest in an Alameda investment and elicited his uncertain recollection of Sam's explanation for why he signed the note.

Highlights (1)

Quote“Sam mentioned something about not wanting this to come directly——or something about it being an FTX investment but didn't want the money to come from Alameda. I wasn't entirely clear on what the explanation was.”— Gary WangWang attributed the explanation for signing the note to Sam while emphasizing that he did not clearly understand it.Open in transcript →

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Day 14

CrossMarc Troiano — CrossMarc TroianoChristian R. EverdellMentioned

Summary

Defense counsel tested the prosecution's role in preparing the Signal summary chart and Troiano's limited knowledge. After striking a misleading question and answer, the court restricted repetitive or out-of-scope questioning, while Troiano confirmed three entries attributed to SBF turning off auto-delete and a one-week setting for the “KYC/legal discuss” group.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

CrossJoseph Pimbley — CrossJoseph PimbleyThane RehnMentioned

Summary

Pimbley acknowledged that his defense charts were limited database extractions that did not address intent, asset tracing, customer shortfalls, or the significance of counsel-selected account categories; the court then began Bankman-Fried's admissibility hearing outside the jury's presence.

Mentioned in this proceeding.

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