SBF Pushes Back From Prison, Says FTX Was Never Insolvent and Bankruptcy Process Was Unfair

FTX collapsed in November 2022 after revelations that customer assets had been diverted to affiliated trading firm Alameda Research, triggering one of the crypto industry’s largest fraud cases. A federal jury convicted founder Sam Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, on seven criminal counts in November 2023, a verdict that intensified scrutiny of digital-asset governance, custody practices and regulation.

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York rejected Bankman-Fried’s appeal, leaving intact the 25-year prison term and $11 billion forfeiture order imposed on March 28, 2024. The court said transferring customer money to Alameda without authorization was itself fraudulent, dismissing his contention that the funds were only borrowed temporarily and that he intended to repay them.

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022, revealing that customer funds had been misappropriated to cover a shortfall at affiliated trading firm Alameda Research. A New York jury convicted founder Sam Bankman-Fried on seven fraud and conspiracy charges in November 2023. In March 2024, the court sentenced him to 25 years in prison and ordered the forfeiture of $11 billion in assets.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected SBF's appeal on July 17, 2026, upholding his conviction and 25-year sentence. The panel found unpersuasive his argument that the trial court had unfairly restricted the defense's presentation of evidence. Even if some rulings were open to question, the prosecution's evidence tracing the flow of funds and its witness testimony were still overwhelmingly strong and provided no basis to overturn the judgment.

FTX was once a major global cryptocurrency exchange and used its own FTT token to underpin its asset and lending system. After a liquidity crisis erupted in November 2022, Binance signed a nonbinding letter of intent to acquire the exchange but withdrew the following day. FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11, shaking crypto markets worldwide.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, recalled in a recent book that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF, casually asked for billions of dollars in aid before the collapse, though Zhao said he never intended to acquire FTX. CZ also said former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison's public offer on November 6, 2022, to buy FTT at $22 per token instead exposed the firm's defensive line and funding shortfall, becoming a key catalyst in the crisis's rapid escalation.