Sam Bankman-Fried loses appeal, fraud conviction stands!

Sam Bankman-Fried's bid to overturn his criminal conviction has failed. A Second Circuit Court of Appeals panel ruled Friday that the former FTX CEO's arguments — that his trial was unfair and that he was improperly blocked from presenting key defenses — were not persuasive. The court described the government's evidence against him as "conservatively stated, robust."

Why it matters

The ruling closes off Bankman-Fried's primary legal escape route and cements the conviction on fraud and conspiracy charges tied to the collapse of FTX, once the world's third-largest crypto exchange. The panel explicitly rejected two of his most substantive arguments: that he lacked fraudulent intent because he planned to eventually repay customers, and that FTX's margin trading structure meant customers implicitly accepted the risk of losing fund access. On the repayment defense, the court was unambiguous — wire fraud law covers temporary misappropriation, regardless of intent to repay. On the margin trading argument, the panel noted that no customer "opted into having their money transferred under false pretenses to Alameda."

Market impact

The ruling lands as Bankman-Fried separately pursues a pardon from President Trump — a request Trump has publicly distanced himself from — and a new trial in federal court. Neither avenue looks promising. For the broader crypto market, the finality of the conviction reinforces the regulatory narrative that the FTX collapse was criminal, not merely a risk management failure, a distinction that continues to shape how legislators and regulators frame crypto oversight heading into 2025 and beyond.