Crypto Exchanges
By Dan Saada
1 / 15
What the Conviction Looked Like. Bankman-Fried got hit with fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange he built…
2 / 15
The Legal Strategy Shift. Three options seemed like overkill to some legal observers.
3 / 15
What Happens Next. The appeal will land in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York.
4 / 15
Sam Bankman-Fried pulled his request for a new trial. The move came pretty much out of nowhere, leaving just one path forward: his appeal of the fraud conviction that landed him…
5 / 15
The FTX founder had been running three plays at once. He wanted a presidential pardon. He filed an appeal. And he asked for a new trial.
6 / 15
Bankman-Fried got hit with fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX, the crypto exchange he built into a multi-billion dollar operation before it imploded in November 2022.
7 / 15
The charges centered on misuse of customer funds. Prosecutors said he took money from FTX customer accounts and funneled it to Alameda Research, his trading firm.
8 / 15
Bankman-Fried took the stand in his own defense. Risky move. He tried to paint himself as a well-intentioned founder who got overwhelmed as the company grew.
9 / 15
Three options seemed like overkill to some legal observers. But Bankman-Fried's team wanted every possible avenue open.
10 / 15
So why drop the new trial request now? The paperwork for that kind of motion takes serious work. You need new evidence or proof the trial was fundamentally unfair.
11 / 15
Appeals are different. They don't retry the facts. Instead, they look for legal errors the trial judge made. Did the judge allow evidence that should've been excluded?
12 / 15
And Bankman-Fried's team probably thinks they've got something there. The trial moved unusually fast for a case this complex.
13 / 15
See also: Dollar Rides Supply Chain Chaos Higher Through Second Quarter
14 / 15
The defense also clashed with Kaplan over what evidence they could present. They wanted to show that FTX customers might still get their money back through bankruptcy proceedings.
15 / 15
The appeal will land in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York. That court hears arguments, reviews trial transcripts, and decides whether Kaplan made mistakes serious…
The Currency Analytics
Want the full story?