Crypto: American justice opposes a new trial for Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried suffers another hard blow in the United States. Federal prosecutors are asking the judge to reject his request for a new trial, saying that the elements put forward by the former boss of FTX do not meet the required legal criteria. This new step confirms one simple thing: despite appeals, the criminal case of one of the greatest fallen figures in crypto remains firmly locked.

A request for a new trial already weakened

The heart of the debate is quite clear. Sam Bankman-Fried argues that new testimony could weaken the prosecution's case about the real state of the FTX crypto platform before its collapse. His defense notably cites Ryan Salame and Daniel Chapsky, two former executives linked to the FTX ecosystem. This approach comes as his parents are said to have led a support campaign with the Republican camp.

But the prosecution responds that these witnesses are nothing “new” within the meaning of American law. According to prosecutors, the defense already knew of their existence before the 2023 trial. In other words, Bankman-Fried is trying to repackage elements already identified as “newly discovered evidence”, which greatly complicates his approach.

From a legal perspective, this detail matters enormously. A new trial is not granted because a defense believes, after the fact, that it could have better exploited certain witnesses. It must be shown that these elements were truly unavailable before and that they could have changed the outcome of the verdict. This is precisely where the SBF claim seems to lose credibility.

The intact weight of the FTX conviction

This setback comes in an already very unfavorable context for the former boss of FTX. In November 2023, a jury convicted him of seven counts related to fraud and conspiracy. In March 2024, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison for embezzlement of billions of dollars of client funds within FTX and Alameda Research.

The important point for the crypto sector is elsewhere. The Bankman-Fried affair is no longer just that of a platform that fell too quickly. It has become a judicial symbol. The American authorities want to show that a star crypto executive does not benefit from any special treatment when internal management descends into fraud. This logic also explains the current firmness of the parquet. It's a continuation, not a surprise.

Even its appeal process follows this line of tension. Bankman-Fried continues to challenge his conviction before the Federal Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. But between the appeal and the attempted retrial, his strategy mostly resembles a battle on several fronts, with little political or judicial space for a quick turnaround.

An even more damaged public image

The other dimension of the issue is political. For several months, speculation has been circulating around a possible presidential pardon. They resumed after public positions perceived as favorable to Donald Trump and his line on crypto. However, nothing concrete has emerged publicly, and the lead remains highly speculative.

This context weighs on its image. In the crypto space, Sam Bankman-Fried once embodied dazzling success, aggressive lobbying and the promise of more sophisticated digital finance. Today, it represents above all the opposite excess: opaque governance, confusion between client assets and internal bets, then legal defense under permanent pressure.

There is a broader lesson here for the market. Big crypto scandals don't die with the bankruptcy of a company. They survive in the courts, in regulation and in the memory of investors. Each new legal setback for SBF is a reminder that rebuilding confidence takes much longer than a bullish cycle.