If the previous crypto billionaire loses all remaining avenues, he could be eligible for launch in 2044.
Printed On 12 Jun 2026
Former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried has misplaced his bid to overturn his fraud conviction and 25-year prison sentence over the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency alternate he based.
In a unanimous determination on Friday, a three-judge panel of the Manhattan-based 2nd United States Circuit Court docket of Appeals mentioned prosecutors’ proof towards Bankman-Fried “was, conservatively acknowledged, strong”.
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“Whereas he was publicly reassuring prospects, traders and regulators that FTX buyer funds have been secure, he was concurrently utilizing FTX as his personal private piggy financial institution, spending buyer funds on actual property, political contributions, and investments,” Circuit Choose Barrington Parker wrote on behalf of the panel.
Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark. They could subsequent ask all of the lively judges on the 2nd Circuit to listen to the case, or ask the US Supreme Court docket to take up the case.
Bankman-Fried can also be looking for a pardon from US President Donald Trump, in keeping with the Division of Justice’s Workplace of the Pardon Legal professional. Neither the White Home nor the Justice Division instantly responded to requests for remark.
Whereas it’s not clear if that will occur, Trump, final yr, did pardon one other crypto tycoon, Changpeng Zhao, founding father of the large Binance cryptocurrency alternate, who was convicted of violating US money-laundering legal guidelines.
‘Fraud of epic proportions’
Bankman-Fried, who had been one of many cryptocurrency sector’s most influential figures and a multibillionaire earlier than FTX’s spectacular collapse in 2022, was discovered responsible on seven felony fees by a federal jury in Manhattan in 2023.
Prosecutors with the Manhattan US Legal professional’s Workplace mentioned he stole $8bn from FTX prospects to plug losses at his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Analysis, in what they termed a “fraud of epic proportions”.
Bankman-Fried had pleaded not responsible to the 2 counts of fraud and 5 counts of conspiracy that he confronted. At his trial, he admitted to creating errors working FTX, however testified that he by no means stole funds.
In interesting the conviction, Bankman-Fried’s defence legal professionals argued that US District Choose Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the trial, improperly prevented Bankman-Fried from introducing proof to again up his perception that FTX had sufficient funds to cowl buyer withdrawals.
The appeals courtroom disagreed, pointing to authorized precedent holding that fraud happens the second a defendant methods somebody into handing over cash or property, even when the defendant intends to ultimately make the sufferer complete.
“FTX prospects have been defrauded as quickly as Bankman-Fried transferred their cash to Alameda no matter how strongly he believed he may later return the cash,” Parker wrote.
Eligible for launch in 2044
Earlier than FTX collapsed, Bankman-Fried was a rising star within the rough-and-tumble crypto business who burnished his status with lavish philanthropic and political donations.
At his March 2024 sentencing listening to, Kaplan mentioned Bankman-Fried knew his actions have been flawed however “made a really unhealthy wager in regards to the chance of getting caught”.
Three of Bankman-Fried’s former deputies pleaded responsible over their involvement within the case and testified towards their onetime boss at his trial.
Bankman-Fried is being held at a low-security federal jail close to Santa Barbara, California. He’s eligible for launch in 2044.
