Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer did little to dent the credibility of the government’s key witness in the former crypto mogul’s fraud trial on 12 October, meandering through a cross-examination of Caroline Ellison that at times left even the judge puzzled and impatient.

During the prior two days of testimony, the prosecution presented Ellison as a high-level insider who had, at Bankman-Fried’s direction, overseen the improper borrowing of funds from customers at the FTX crypto exchange run by Bankman-Fried. The funds often were used for investments at an affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research, that was headed by Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s one-time girlfriend.