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Elizabeth Lopatto

Elizabeth Lopatto

Senior Reporter

Senior Reporter

    More From Elizabeth Lopatto

    In the end, the FTX trial was about the friends screwed along the way

    The prosecution’s case against Sam Bankman-Fried had a lot of collateral damage.

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Who knows what’s going on? Not the economists.

    What if 2009 through 2020 were a weird fluke and we are in some new normal? What if inflation stays higher? What if interest rates stay higher? What is going onnnnnnn?

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Today in former Google CEO Eric Schmidt being messy: chairman of his girlfriend’s floundering company.

    It’s unclear what Steel Perlot does, as a company (it is “an AI and analytics company of companies”) — or even what “Steel Perlot” means (there is a sailboat that shares its name?) — but whatever it is, it’s not going well. “Just over a year after it launched, the company was asking Schmidt’s family office, Hillspire LLC, to pay its bills,” writes Forbes.

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    What happens when an artist who’s famous on social media gets taken seriously by the mainstream art establishment?

    Ben Davis wrote a review of artist Devon Rodriguez’s solo show called “Underground,” a nod to how Rodriguez rose to fame: doing portraits of fellow subway riders, giving them the portraits, and posting the whole thing to TikTok.

    I tend to view the existence of a review as someone taking art seriously — even if the reviewer doesn’t like the art, it was worth considering thoughtfully. Rodriguez didn’t see it that way, and now Davis is writing about what happens when social media and the art world interact.

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    I have been standing in line for the SBF trial with a man named Taco.

    The mix in the courtroom for the Sam Bankman-Fried / FTX trial has been reporters, occasional members of the general public, curious lawyers, crypto influencers... and one very devoted degen. Fellow line-stander David Yaffe-Bellany profiles Taco, who politely refused to tell me his government name.

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    SBF Trial, day uhhhh 10? I think it’s 10 if we don’t count jury selection.

    We are very close to the end of the prosecution’s case, and today was pretty uneventful. I will be writing a wrap of some of the financial testimony shortly, but if you can’t wait, the talented reporters at CoinDesk have been doing all-hands-on-deck coverage.

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Fun Easter egg in FBI agent’s testimony today!

    The majority of FBI agent Richard Busik’s testimony seemed geared toward establishing jurisdiction — he was explaining cell phone pings that occurred in New York City — so I left it out of my recap.

    But in order to tie Sam Bankman-Fried to the cell phone number, CoinDesk reports how the prosecution picked perhaps the funniest possible email: the Bahamian Prime Minister asking for a favor.

    Screenshot of an email from Bahamaian government official: “Sam, my son Christopher is being engaged as a consultant for an NFT entity that is considering your platform. grateful if you were to take a call to discuss. my son is copied on this email, thanks.”
    Image: DOJ
    Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense finally woke up

    Nishad Singh looks less reliable. Is it enough?

    Elizabeth Lopatto
    Sam Bankman-Fried was a bad friend, too

    Nishad Singh says he tried to get Bankman-Fried to do the right thing — but he wouldn’t listen.

    Elizabeth Lopatto