This Friday, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously upheld the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried and his 25-year prison sentence for fraud. The justices swept aside all of his arguments, calling the government's evidence “strong.” For the fallen founder of FTX, the legal route is now closed.
In brief
- The Federal Court of Appeal unanimously validated the 25-year sentence imposed on Sam Bankman-Fried in 2023.
- The judges rejected the central argument of the defense: that FTX could have reimbursed its customers, the fraud remains constituted since false declarations were used to extract money.
- SBF formally filed a presidential pardon request with the DOJ on June 8, 2026, its sole remaining appeal.
Sam Bankman's conviction resists appeal
The decision rendered Friday by the Manhattan judges leaves no ambiguity. Bankman-Fried argued that FTX remained solvent at the material time and that its clients could have been fully reimbursed. This argument, although based on the liquidation of FTX and the effective repayments to creditors, did not convince the court.
The justices cited a 2025 Supreme Court ruling to decide. Fraud occurs when a “material misrepresentation” is used to deceive victims out of funds, whether or not the accused seeks to cause them a net loss.
However, Bankman-Fried falsified accounting documents to hide the unauthorized use of FTX client funds, including to cover losses at Alameda Research, its sister hedge fund, and to finance real estate acquisitions and political contributions.
“ Bankman-Fried does not significantly challenge the substantial evidence the government collected at trial », concluded the judges.
Trump as a last resort
Presidential pardon remains, at this stage, the only lever available. SBF formally submitted its request to the Office of the Pardon Attorney of the Department of Justice on June 8, 2026. The file is referenced as “pardon after completion of sentence”: the request does not seek early release, but the restoration of certain civil rights at the end of the sentence.
However, Trump has already granted more than 1,400 pardons since the start of his second term, including a total pardon for Changpeng Zhao, the former boss of Binance, in October 2025. But the SBF case is of a completely different political caliber.
In January, the president told the New York Times that he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried. The White House has not changed since.
FTT, FTX's native token, jumped around 50% intraday on the demand announcement. On Polymarket, the chances of a pardon range between 20% and 35%. Figures which reflect the speculative appetite of the market more than political reality.
In short, the SBF affair illustrates the limits of the rhetoric of solvency as a defense against a charge of fraud. The falsification of documents is enough: this is what the American federal courts ruled, in accordance with the recent case law of the Supreme Court.
Bankman-Fried is serving his sentence in a federal penitentiary in California, his legal appeal exhausted. Trump's decision, whatever it may be, will come against a backdrop where the entire crypto sector is closely following the US administration's leniency policy. Only one man now holds the keys.
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