Almost two years after his conviction, the ex-CEO of FTX sees his future replayed on appeal. The court of appeal of the second circuit fixed the hearing on November 4, a key step in this crypto trial.
In short
- Sam Bankman-Fried is preparing his call in court, scheduled for November 4.
- The former CEO of FTX disputes his conviction for fraud linked to the collapse of the platform.
- This appeal could upset one of the most publicized crypto trials of the decade.
A trial that continues to weigh on the crypto ecosystem
Sam Bankman-Fried, alias SBF, is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy. Decognized by seven charges, he remains the emblematic figure of a striking debacle of the crypto ecosystem.
FTX, once presented as a solid juggernaut, collapsed in November 2022 under the weight of an insurmountable liquidity crisis. The crypto funds of clients diverted to Alameda Research reveal fragile governance and absent risk management.
The call that SBF is preparing is therefore far from trivial. His lawyers argue that the former CEO never benefited from a real presumption of innocence and that the accusation imposed a biased account, suggesting that the Crypto funds were definitively lost. A nuance that could, if it is retained, reopen the way to a new trial or a revised sentence.
The allies fallen one after the other
Around SBF, its former partners have already paid their legal prices. Caroline Ellison, ex-CEO of Alameda and former partner of Sam Bankman-Fried, received two years in prison after cooperating with justice. Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, also repentant, only received symbolic sorrows, their cooperation that has largely weighed in the balance.
Ryan Salame, on the other hand, tried a different strategy: to return to his guilt. Result, more than seven years in prison. A clear sign that American justice wants to mark exemplarity in this crypto file linked to FTX.
This mosaic of convictions illustrates a striking contrast: SBF is the only one to have hooked itself until the end of its plea of non-culpability. A risky posture which earned it a long incarceration today, in a Californian federal establishment, with a theoretical release scheduled for October 2044.
Between appeal and rumors of presidential grace
The call of November 4 is not the only glow of hope for Bankman-Fried. Murmurs already circulate on a possible request for presidential grace from Donald Trump. The fallen billionaire recently hinted a more assumed proximity to the republican camp, a political strategy as well as judicial.
But the perspective remains uncertain. Trump, as soon as he returned to power, had surprised by climbing Ross Ulbricht, the founder of the Dark Market Silk Road. However, the SBF case is of another magnitude: public opinion is particularly sensitive to it, because it is not only a question of abstract financial crime, but millions of savers waken around the world.
Whether the court of appeal decides to reduce its sentence or that the White House chooses to reach out, one thing is clear: the story of Sam Bankman-Fried is far from over. And its fate continues to reflect, for the crypto industry, a brutal lesson on the importance of transparency and governance.
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