Appeals court upholds FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud conviction

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves federal court in New York on July 26, 2023. (Mary Altaffer / AP Photo)

NEW YORK — A federal appeals court has upheld the conviction of cryptocurrency entrepreneur and FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, finding that the 2023 trial that led to his 25-year prison sentence was not unfair.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said Friday the government’s evidence against the once high-profile player in the cryptocurrency industry was “conservatively stated, robust.”

A jury found that Bankman-Fried defrauded customers and investors of billions of dollars while he operated FTX, once the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange.

The appeals court said the evidence proved that Bankman-Fried reassured FTX customers while also transferring billions of dollars for his own use and falsifying business records to conceal transactions.

“While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors, and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions, and investments,” the appeals court wrote.

The 2nd Circuit, which heard oral arguments in November 2025, rejected the defence’s argument that his trial was unfair because of a series of rulings by the judge that limited the evidence he could present. Judge Barrington D. Parker wrote the three-judge panel’s opinion.

Bankman-Fried, 34, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 2023 after a meteoric rise and then dramatic fall in the cryptocurrency universe, where his company once advertised during the Super Bowl. Bankman-Fried testified before Congress and enjoyed celebrity endorsements from stars like quarterback Tom Brady, basketball point guard Stephen Curry and comedian Larry David.

FTX collapsed in November 2022, leaving customers, investors and lenders short over US$11 billion.

At Bankman-Fried’s sentencing, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan criticized the entrepreneur’s trial testimony, saying he repeatedly committed perjury on the witness stand in testimony that was “often evasive, hair-splitting, dodging questions.”

Kaplan also said Bankman-Fried should not be credited because some investors and customers might recover some money. He noted that customers lost about $8 billion, investors lost $1.7 billion and lenders were shorted by $1.3 billion.

A request for comment was sent to Bankman-Fried’s lawyer. A prosecutor’s spokesperson declined comment.

Larry Neumeister, The Associated Press