Sam Bankman-Fried set to face trial after spectacular crash of crypto exchange FTX

Sam Bankman-Fried's trial is set to kick off on Tuesday, with the founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX facing a potential prison term of more than a century if convicted of federal fraud and money-laundering charges. The case also thrusts the emerging crypto trading industry, tarnished by a series of high-profile bankruptcies and questions about investor risks, into the spotlight.

FTX blew up over a four-day period in November, and Bankman-Fried was arrested the following month. The man who once cast himself as a benign presence in a dog-eat-dog industry, he is accused of running a scam in which billions were swiped from customers to fund outside ventures including political contributions and the purchase of luxury real estate.