Sam Bankman-Fried asks U.S. Supreme Court to review conviction

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Eugene Komchuk

11.09.2026

Sam Bankman-Fried asks U.S. Supreme Court to review conviction — The FTX founder has not given up hope of regaining his freedom.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn his fraud conviction. He is also seeking to have an $11 billion forfeiture order vacated.

According to The Block, Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence. A jury found him guilty on seven counts, including fraud, conspiracy and money laundering. Prosecutors alleged that the former FTX chief orchestrated a multibillion-dollar scheme in which customer funds were used without their consent, while investors and lenders were provided with false information.

In the Supreme Court petition, the defense argued that Bankman-Fried was prevented during the trial from presenting evidence showing that FTX and its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research were only temporarily illiquid and had enough assets to ultimately repay customers and investors in full.

His lawyers stressed that sufficient assets were available and that customers were eventually repaid, including substantial interest.

Bankman-Fried is also challenging the $11 billion forfeiture order. He argues that the amount violates the Eighth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which prohibits excessive fines.

Not the FTX founder’s first appeal

In June, a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the conviction. The court relied on the Supreme Court’s 2025 ruling in Kousisis v. United States.

In that case, the Supreme Court ruled that conduct can qualify as wire fraud even if the defendant did not intend to cause the victims any net economic loss. The decision effectively prevented Bankman-Fried from basing his defense on the argument that customers ultimately suffered no financial losses.

His lawyers are now asking the Supreme Court to determine whether, in fraud cases based on fraudulent inducement, courts may consider evidence showing whether victims actually suffered financial losses.

Defense points to contradiction in trial

Bankman-Fried’s defense argues that the trial court took an unfair approach to the evidence. Prosecutors were allowed to claim that FTX customers suffered massive losses, while the defense was barred from showing that customer funds were later repaid.

His lawyers argue that such evidence should either have been available to both sides or excluded from the proceedings altogether.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to decide later in 2026 whether it will hear Bankman-Fried’s case.

Earlier, Sam Bankman-Fried said he wants to create a token system after his release from prison.

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