With 19 years left to serve, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried, the ex-CEO of FTX, is set to have his legal team argue in an appellate court for a new trial. On Tuesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will review his case. Details surrounding the appeal are somewhat vague, but his lawyers indicated in a September 2024 filing that they would assert that Bankman-Fried was not afforded the presumption of innocence and that critical information regarding FTX’s solvency was omitted during the trial.
“From day one, the prevailing narrative—initially spun by the lawyers who took over FTX, quickly adopted by their contacts at the US Attorney’s Office—was that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of dollars of customer funds, driven FTX to insolvency, and caused billions in losses.” — September 2024 appeal.
(Translation: From the very start, the dominant story crafted by the attorneys who succeeded FTX and their associates in the US Attorney’s Office was that Bankman-Fried had misappropriated billions from customers, resulted in FTX’s bankruptcy, and inflicted substantial monetary losses.)
After FTX failed in November 2022, SBF was extradited from the Bahamas to face multiple charges, including fraud. A jury found him guilty on seven counts last November, followed by a 25-year prison sentence in March 2024.
The high-profile nature of this case has drawn attention across the cryptocurrency sphere and among lawmakers, particularly since SBF had previously donated significant sums to political campaigns. The appeals court is tasked with determining whether Bankman-Fried deserves a retrial or if his conviction will be upheld.
Aiming for a Presidential Pardon?
In the wake of his conviction, there are indications that SBF is trying to align himself more closely with right-leaning politicians, including attempts to attract favorable attention from President Donald Trump.
Trump has hinted at possibilities for pardoning or commuting the sentences of cryptocurrency figures who express support for him or maintain connections with his family. In January, he granted clemency to Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht, serving life in prison, as part of an appeal to libertarians for the 2024 election.
More recently, the president pardoned former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who had spent four months behind bars in 2024 after admitting guilt to a violation of the US Bank Secrecy Act. Speculations have surged regarding SBF’s chances for a pardon, although as of Tuesday, no announcement had come from the White House.
