Prosecutors ask court to deny Sam Bankman-Fried request for new trial

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Sergey Shendetskyi

12.03.2026

Prosecutors ask court to deny Sam Bankman-Fried request for new trial — Prosecutors oppose Bankman-Fried retrial

U.S. federal prosecutors have opposed an attempt by former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried to secure a new trial. According to the prosecution, the defense failed to present evidence that could justify reconsidering the verdict.

Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence after a jury found him guilty in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the misuse of customer funds, Bloomberg reported.

Prosecutors challenge defense arguments

In February, Bankman-Fried’s defense filed a motion requesting a new trial. The filing argued that former FTX executives Ryan Salame and Daniel Chapsky could have provided testimony that would challenge the prosecution’s account of the exchange’s financial condition before its collapse.

Prosecutors said those claims do not meet the legal standard for “newly discovered evidence.” According to them, both potential witnesses were known to the defense before the original trial began.

“The defense’s decision not to put the witnesses on his witness list or compel their testimony forecloses any claim that their post-trial views are newly discovered,” prosecutors said.

The prosecution also rejected Bankman-Fried’s claim that FTX had been solvent. Court filings state that the exchange did not hold the cryptocurrency it had promised to customers.

Prosecutors said the motion’s key claim — that FTX was solvent, that customers were later fully reimbursed, and that the prosecution was therefore based on false statements — is factually incorrect, legally irrelevant, and misleading. They also noted that, as the court previously observed, criminal fraud is considered complete at the moment funds are misappropriated.

Political argument rejected

In his motion, Bankman-Fried also argued that the case against him was politically motivated and linked to the administration of Joe Biden. Prosecutors dismissed the claim as unfounded.

“The defendant’s weaponization narrative provides no basis for a new trial,” prosecutors wrote. “The defendant was one of the largest donors to the Democratic Party in 2020 and 2022… the suggestion that he was targeted for prosecution because of his Democratic political activity … is fanciful”

The motion is being reviewed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York. The judge has not yet ruled on whether the request for a retrial will proceed.

Why the case still matters for the industry

The collapse of FTX in 2022 became one of the largest crises in the history of the cryptocurrency market. The exchange, once considered one of the world’s largest trading platforms, filed for bankruptcy after it emerged that customer funds had been used for operations at its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research.

Investigations and subsequent court proceedings have increased regulatory pressure on crypto companies. After the FTX collapse, policymakers in the United States and other countries began discussing stricter rules for centralized exchanges and custodial services.

Earlier reports also revealed that court documents described 12 media influence tactics proposed by Sam Bankman-Fried to shape public opinion and seek a presidential pardon. The disclosures intensified debate over his attempts to mitigate the legal consequences of the FTX collapse.

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