Sam Bankman-Fried’s conviction upheld by appeals court

A federal appeals court has rejected former cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried's bid to overturn his fraud conviction, ratcheting up the stakes around the 34-year-old's recent request for a pardon from President Donald Trump.

In a court filing, a panel of judges in the Manhattan-based 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals shot down arguments from the former FTX CEO's attorneys that his 2023 trial was unfair and that his investments would have paid out scorned investors over the long term, among other claims.

Judge Barrington Parker, who was nominated by former President George W. Bush, wrote in the ruling that "the government's evidence against him was, conservatively stated, robust."

Bankman-Fried was found guilty by a New York jury on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of his crypto exchange, FTX, which was once one of the world's largest digital assets trading platforms. Prosecutors called Bankman-Fried's scheme one of the largest financial frauds in American history. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

His attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office of the Southern District of New York, which prosecuted the case, declined to comment.

The ruling comes just days after news broke that the former crypto giant had applied for a pardon. Bankman-Fried — who at the height of his power was seen as a burgeoning Washington kingmaker — has been praising Trump in social media posts for months.

Yet Bankman-Fried is still toxic to many lawmakers in Washington — including Republicans involved in the ongoing debate over how to regulate the crypto market, a fight that Bankman-Fried and FTX once led for the industry. Trump, meanwhile, told The New York Times in January that he doesn't plan to pardon Bankman-Fried.