When your FT-ex keeps hangin' around… Jury selection in Sam Bankman-Fried's trial kicked off yesterday, eliciting a sigh of relief from an industry desperate to put the FTX scandal behind it. Prosecutors have accused SBF of defrauding his exchange's customers out of billions of dollars, charging him with fraud and money laundering. SBF has pleaded not guilty. Opening arguments are set to kick off today, and the jury could return a verdict as early as next month.

• Cellblock-chain: If found guilty, the onetime billionaire could spend the rest of his life in prison. FYI: some experts think 10 to 20 years is more likely.

• Character, witnessed: SBF's former coworkers are expected to testify against him. On the list: Caroline Ellison, who was CEO of FTX's sister company, Alameda Research (she also used to be SBF's girlfriend).

The crypto world's #Scandoval… involves lots of jilted lovers. As recently as last fall, the crypto world embraced SBF as a "White Knight" who showered the industry with investments and attention. At its peak, FTX was valued at $32B. Now many in the industry hope to see SBF convicted as a first step toward finally moving on. And there's much to move on from…

• Mount up: The SEC cranked up its scrutiny of crypto after FTX's collapse, going after companies including Coinbase, Binance, and Bittrex.

• Once bitten: Retail and institutional investors alike said they felt burned by FTX and that they'd pull back on crypto. A Pew survey this year found that 75% of Americans who'd heard of crypto weren't sure the ways to invest in it were safe.

Clean slates take time… FTX's outsized presence (picture: Super Bowl ads, stadium-naming deals, celeb endorsements) meant that for many crypto newbies, FTX represented crypto as a whole. Its collapse knocked an industry already struggling to pick itself up from Terra's $40B implosion. Whatever the outcome, SBF's trial could help the crypto industry distance itself from its troubled past.

Tchau, tax breaks… Portugal's prime minister is fed up with digital nomads crowding cafés with their laptops and espressos. Next year he plans to end a tax break for foreign residents that, as of July, benefited 89K foreigners who spent at least 183 days/year in Portugal. The program includes a preferential 20% tax rate on "high value" work (think: doctors, authors, IT specialists). As locals face a cost-of-living crisis, the PM called the program a "fiscal injustice."

• Cold shoulder: Earlier this year, Portugal decided to end its citizenship-by-investment program (aka: "golden visa"), which gave foreigners a path to EU residency by investing a set amount of $$ (usually $520K+) into the country. Picture: a second home.

• US influx: Last year Americans received the most Portuguese golden visas — and have been quick to snatch up digital-nomad visas, a newer permit that requires applicants to earn 4X the Portuguese minimum wage and live in the country most of the year.

Work-from-Rome… After the '08 financial crisis, European countries introduced tax and investment incentives to attract deep-pocketed foreigners (and their $$). During the pandemic, those programs surged in popularity as newly remote employees set up desks overlooking Mediterranean beaches.

• Problem: Wealthy foreigners are causing property prices to soar, especially in Lisbon, Barcelona, and Athens. Rent in Lisbon jumped 43% last year to a record high.

• Solution: Now European lawmakers are calling on countries to eliminate golden visas, and residents are protesting the digital nomads who are pricing them out.

Too much of a good thing can turn sour… Foreigners have invested some $26B over the past decade in European countries through golden-visa programs. Plus, digital nomads willing to spend $6 for a pastry can boost those economies. But a lot of countries have reached a tipping point, and the locals can no longer afford to keep up with the Joneses filling up their block.