Crypto: SBF Finally Appeals And Denounces A Biased Trial In The FTX Case

Despite a 25-year prison sentence, Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of the FTX exchange, continues to defend himself. According to him, the collapse of FTX is not entirely his fault. He claims that his trial was marred by irregularities, including a biased judge. Today, he is trying to overturn his conviction, hoping to have his case retried under another magistrate.

SBF and his fight against the verdict

Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF to those close to him, has never really accepted his status as the chief fraudster of the crypto era. Convicted last year for siphoning billions from FTX accounts, the former boss is now appealing. His angle of attack? Judge Kaplan, who, according to his lawyers, orchestrated a biased trial.

“Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent“, says Alexandra A.E. Shapiro, his lawyer, in a 102-page appeal. She criticizes several decisions by the judge that restricted the defense, including the inability to introduce evidence about the solvency of FTX, the exchange issuer of FTT.

According to SBF, FTX was not insolvent, just experiencing a liquidity crisis. His investments were not risky, but difficult to liquidate in time. However, it was these losses that drove the ship towards the depths of bankruptcy.

SBF’s lawyers insist that the post-crisis management of the exchange by ill-advised administrators played a key role in the loss of funds.

Here are some key points of the appeal:

• SBF claims that FTX held billions to repay clients;
• The judge allegedly prohibited the defense from proving the solvency of the exchange;
• The charges were amplified by the media coverage of the trial.

A new battle in the crypto universe

The crypto world has never been a playground for the faint-hearted, but with the FTX affair, the low blows are reaching new heights. The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried not only shook the industry, but it also opened a new era where the trials of key players become the media’s favorite soap opera.

For SBF, the outcome still seems uncertain. His lawyers cry injustice, claiming that their client did not benefit from a fair defense, particularly because of witnesses like Caroline Ellison, a former colleague and girlfriend, who pleaded guilty and testified against him. And what about his former associates?

FTX is now nothing but a field of ruins, a glaring example of what irresponsible management can cost in a highly volatile sector like crypto. Today, SBF’s defenders claim that he never had the opportunity to present his full version of events. Yet, for many, this appeal battle looks like a last desperate attempt to save what remains of his reputation.

Between fraud, plots, and betrayals, the FTX saga continues to captivate. But one question remains: will American justice give him a second chance? Or is this the end of the soap opera for the fallen king of crypto?

Arrested in December 2022 in the Bahamas, Sam Bankman-Fried is now the star of a BBC documentary, which tells the dizzying fall of this fallen king of the crypto world.