Sam Bankman-Fried asked the Supreme Court Thursday to grant him a new trial and throw out the $11 billion forfeiture order tied to his FTX fraud conviction.
What SBF Is Actually Arguing
According to CNN, Bankman-Fried’s appeal rests on two arguments.
First, he says the trial was unfair because prosecutors presented evidence of customer losses while the court blocked him from showing that FTX’s investments could have covered those losses.
He argues that proof of financial harm was not required under the government’s fraud case, making the customer-loss evidence irrelevant and prejudicial.
Second, Bankman-Fried argues that the $11 billion forfeiture order amounts to an excessive fine prohibited by the Eighth Amendment.
“The victims did not lose money, and the defendant is unable to make that clear,” his attorney, Jeffrey Fisher, told CNN.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals unanimously rejected both arguments in June 2026 and upheld his conviction and 25-year prison sentence.
The Supreme Court will consider the appeal later this year.
Why the Legal Argument Is More Nuanced Than It Sounds
CNN reported that the appeal leans heavily on a 2025 Supreme Court ruling involving a government contractor convicted of wire fraud for submitting false certifications on a bridge painting contract.
The Supreme Court unanimously rejected that appeal, ruling that defendants do not need to intend economic harm to be convicted of fraud.
Bankman-Fried acknowledges that ruling but argues it actually supports his position.
He contends that if prosecutors do not need to prove economic loss to secure a fraud conviction, they should not introduce loss evidence at trial unless defendants can counter it with evidence showing that no losses occurred.
What Else SBF Has Been Doing
Beyond the Supreme Court appeal, Bankman-Fried formally applied for a pardon through the DOJ’s Pardon Attorney Office in June 2026, despite President Donald Trump telling the New York Times in January he had no plans to grant one.
Through 2025, Bankman-Fried gave interviews to Fox Business and the New York Sun, distancing himself from his Democratic donor past and echoing DOJ politicization talking points, widely read as an attempt to build goodwill in Trump circles ahead of any clemency decision.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried in 2024 for directing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to his hedge fund, Alameda Research, for risky investments, political donations and personal expenses, leading to a 25-year prison sentence.
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