According to CNBC, Sam Bankman-Fried’s appeal faced intense skepticism from a three-judge panel at the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals on Tuesday. The FTX founder’s lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, argued his November 2023 conviction on seven criminal counts should be overturned because the trial was “fundamentally unfair.” Judge Barrington Parker immediately challenged this, calling the evidence against Bankman-Fried “very substantial” and questioning whether additional testimony would have changed the verdict. The 33-year-old cryptocurrency executive, who’s serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud against FTX customers and Alameda Research lenders, watched as his parents observed from the courtroom gallery during the tense exchanges.
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The Appeal That Couldn’t Get Off The Ground
Here’s the thing about appeals courts – they’re not there to retry your case. They’re looking at whether the trial was conducted properly. And from what we’re hearing, Shapiro couldn’t even get her arguments out without being interrupted. Judge Parker’s question says it all: “Are you seriously suggesting to us that if your client had been able to testify about the role that attorneys played… the not-guilty verdicts would have rolled in?” That’s basically the court saying “Come on, really?”
What This Means For Everyone Else
For the crypto industry, this appeal was always a long shot. But watching it fail so spectacularly sends a clear message to other founders and executives. The courts aren’t buying the “I didn’t know” or “my lawyers handled it” defenses when billions of customer money disappears. And let’s be honest – we’re talking about one of the biggest financial frauds in recent history. The 2nd Circuit Court handles some of the most complex financial cases in the country, so their skepticism carries weight.
The Broader Impact
Look, this isn’t just about one guy going to prison. This case has become the poster child for cryptocurrency regulation and accountability. When judges this senior express such clear doubts about an appeal, it reinforces that the system views this as straightforward fraud, not some complex crypto misunderstanding. For FTX customers still waiting to recover funds, it’s probably some small comfort that the legal process is holding their former CEO accountable. But the real question is whether this will actually change behavior in an industry that’s still pretty wild west.
