Topline
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX and a former billionaire, lost his appeal to overturn his conviction for fraud and 25-year sentence on Friday, as an appeals court rejected his claim the trial was unfair.
Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, lost his appeal of his fraud conviction Friday. (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP) (Photo by TIMOTHY A. CLARY/AFP via Getty Images)
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Key Facts
A three-judge panel in a Manhattan federal appeals court upheld Bankman-Fried’s conviction and sentence Friday, saying in a 42-page ruling Bankman-Fried was the “main driver of one of the largest frauds on record.”
Bankman-Fried, whose cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed in spectacular fashion in 2022, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 after he was found guilty on seven counts, including two counts of wire fraud, and additional counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and securities fraud.
The appeals court rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim that his trial was “fundamentally unfair” and that the judge was biased against him, saying in the ruling the “government’s evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust.”
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers previously argued before the appeals court that federal judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who presided over his trial, improperly limited Bankman-Fried’s testimony, though the appeals court said Friday the judge “acted within his broad discretion” by concluding additional testimony would have “created a real danger of confusing, if not misleading, the jury.”
Bankman-Fried may still try to appeal his conviction to the appeals court’s full panel of judges or to the Supreme Court.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.