--- title: "FTX Cofounder Who Was Allegedly in Groupchat Called “Wirefraud” Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud" description: "While it surely won't be fun for any of Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) friends to take the stand against him, for Nashad Singh, it might just sting the worst." date: "2023-03-04" modified: "2023-03-04" authors: - name: "Maggie Harrison Dupré" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/mharrison" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/sbfs-childhood-friend-testify" categories: - "Blockchain" - "Future Society" tags: - "cryptocurrency exchange" - "ftx" - "sam bankman-fried" - "the digest" --- # FTX Cofounder Who Was Allegedly in Groupchat Called “Wirefraud” Pleads Guilty to Wire Fraud ![While it surely won't be fun for any of Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) friends to take the stand against him, for Nashad Singh, it might just sting the worst.]() *\Image: Michael M. Santiago via Getty / Futurism\* ## Friendly Fire Nishad Singh, a cofounder and former Director of Engineering of the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, officially pled guilty to six federal charges on Tuesday. Among other charges, Singh admitted to committing wire fraud. This would be less surprising if Singh hadn't been one of the four members of a secret FTX exec Signal chat allegedly called "[wirefraud]()." “I'm unbelievably sorry for my role in all of this," Singh told the Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, [according to *The Wall Street Journal*](), "and the harm that it has caused." With the exception of disgraced ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who's [currently on house arrest]() at his parent's multi-million dollar Palo Alto pad awaiting criminal trial, Singh is the last of the "wirefraud" kids — a group that also included [Tumblr queen Caroline Ellison](), former Alameda Research CEO and Bankman-Fried's rumored ex-girlfriend, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang — to plead guilty to multiple charges. As a result, Singh may have to testify against SBF, the only one of the group who seemingly wants to fight the charges. And while it surely won't be fun for any of SBF's friends and former coworkers to take the stand against him, for Singh, it might just sting the worst. According to the *WSJ*, the two have been friends for years, going back to grade school. ## We Go Back As the *WSJ* tells it, Singh — widely regarded as the nicest, most approachable member of the FTX inner circle — was actually close high school friends with Bankman-Fried's [younger brother](), Gabe. He joined Alameda, the SBF-founded crypto hedge fund, shortly after graduating from The University of California, Berkley with top honors. The engineer ultimately went on to help Bankman-Fried architect FTX, which launched in 2019. And the rest, as they say, was short-lived, chaotic, and spectacularly disastrous history. Per the *WSJ*, a lawsuit filed Tuesday by the Securities and Exchange Commission details that Singh wrote the code that, as the *WSJ* puts it, "allowed Bankman-Fried to divert FTX customer funds" to Alameda. Singh has also apparently admitted to knowing about the misappropriation of customer funds. The *WSJ* further notes that a number of FTX employees were shocked to discover that Singh, seen by so many as one of the nice guys, was involved in any wrongdoing. But, hey. Bankman-Fried [seemed pretty nice](), too. **READ MORE:** *[How FTX's Nishad Singh, Once an Honors Student, Turned to Crypto Crime]()* \[*The Wall Street Journal*\] **More on groupchats:** [*SBF and Caroline Ellison Allegedly Had a Secret Groupchat Called "Wirefraud"*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've reported extensively on the rise of AI as a cultural and business force shaping the media industry, and more broadly how those dynamics are changing how we all consume and share information and relate to one another. I'm also fascinated by public health policy and ethics, the role of emerging tech in politics and governance — and the powerful people and forces at those intersections — climate change, and the environment. My investigation on Sports Illustrated's use of AI-generated authors with fictional biographies won a 2024 Mirror Award for "Best Story on Media Coverage of Artificial Intelligence in Journalism and the Media" from Syracuse University's SI Newhouse School, I contributed to Niemen Lab's 2025 Predictions for Journalism series, and I've discussed my work for Futurism during appearances on NPR, CNN, the BBC, the CBC, and more. I grew up in rural Pennsylvania and attended the University of Massachusetts Amherst, where I played Division I field hockey for the Minutewomen as a midfielder. Since then, I've lived in New Orleans, Louisiana and Manhattan, New York. I spend my free time running, reading, perusing archival fashion, and searching for the world’s best negroni. I also have a debonair tuxedo cat, Westley, who's named after "The Princess Bride." ### Author social links [Bluesky]()