Share this article
Sam Bankman-Fried Dined With Eric Adams at NYC Mayor’s Go-To Italian Restaurant
Erstwhile crypto titan and avowed vegan Sam Bankman-Fried was also scheduled to meet New York Gov. Kathy Hochul at The Capital Grille steakhouse, according to FBI trial testimony.
Updated Oct 18, 2023, 8:41 p.m. Published Oct 17, 2023, 10:32 p.m.
Make us preferred on Google
NEW YORK — Sam Bankman-Fried tangled with New York’s top political and financial power brokers in the months preceding FTX’s collapse and his subsequent arrest. He even had one soiree at New York City Mayor Eric Adams’ favorite late-night haunt.
Despite living in the Bahamas, the erstwhile crypto titan frequented the Big Apple in 2022, according to testimony at Bankman-Fried’s trial from an FBI agent who specializes in analyzing phone records. On Tuesday, Special Agent Richard Busick walked the jury through a series of meetups. This part of his testimony was likely meant to highlight how Bankman-Fried’s alleged crimes played out in New York City.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
At one moment Bankman-Fried might show up for a 15-minute photoshoot with Forbes in midtown; at another, he’d be penciled in with Saudi Arabia’s finance minister, Khalid A. Al-Falih or the head of its sovereign wealth fund, Yasir Al-Rumayyan. All scheduling streamed through his employee Natalie Tien, a personal assistant whose experiences managing the frazzled CEO provide the opening scenes in Michael Lewis’ book “Going Infinite.”
In March 2022, Bankman-Fried even took a dinner with Mayor Adams at Osteria La Baia, an Italian restaurant near the Museum of Modern Art that’s owned by friends of Hizzoner and has become his de-facto after-hours office. A copy of the mayor’s public schedule has a “Hold for Mayor” meeting on March 3, 2022, starting at 8:30 p.m. ET, but does not include details of who he met with. In September 2022 Bankman-Fried was slated to meet New York Governor Kathy Hochul at The Capital Grille steakhouse – an odd meeting ground for the avowed vegan.
Read all of CoinDesk’s SBF trial coverage here.
The emails prosecutors selected showcased how in-demand Bankman-Fried was prior to everything falling apart. The investing world clamored for access to the crypto wunderkind; 32 different funds requested access to a group dinner, including that of George Soros and Morgan Stanley.
Read more: Bahamian Prime Minister Asked Sam Bankman-Fried to Give His Son Advice on NFT Project
Adams is known to be a crypto fan. His first mayoral paycheck was denominated in bitcoin and ether. (Or it kind of was. He was paid in U.S. dollars, but the money was immediately converted into BTC and ETH.) He has talked about making the city a crypto hub.
There was no answer at the mayor’s press office when CoinDesk called Tuesday evening.
More For You
KuCoin captured a record share of centralised exchange volume in 2025, with more than $1.25tn traded as its volumes grew faster than the wider crypto market.
What to know:
- KuCoin recorded over $1.25 trillion in total trading volume in 2025, equivalent to an average of roughly $114 billion per month, marking its strongest year on record.
- This performance translated into an all-time high share of centralised exchange volume, as KuCoin’s activity expanded faster than aggregate CEX volumes, which slowed during periods of lower market volatility.
- Spot and derivatives volumes were evenly split, each exceeding $500 billion for the year, signalling broad-based usage rather than reliance on a single product line.
- Altcoins accounted for the majority of trading activity, reinforcing KuCoin’s role as a primary liquidity venue beyond BTC and ETH at a time when majors saw more muted turnover.
- Even as overall crypto volumes softened mid-year, KuCoin maintained elevated baseline activity, indicating structurally higher user engagement rather than short-lived volume spikes.
More For You
Ukraine banned Polymarket and there’s no legal way for it to come back
Polymarket and similar platforms are considered unlicensed gambling operators, leading to blocked access.
What to know:
- Ukraine has no legal framework for Web3 prediction markets, and current legislation provides no recognition for such platforms.
- Polymarket and similar platforms are considered unlicensed gambling operators, leading to blocked access.
- Legal changes are unlikely in the near future, as Parliamentary revisions to gambling definitions are extremely improbable during wartime, leaving prediction markets in a legal deadlock.
Top Stories
