The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan has upheld the fraud conviction of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, rejecting defense claims that his 2023 trial was unfair and leaving his 25-year prison sentence intact. A three-judge panel found the government's case against the 34-year-old cryptocurrency entrepreneur was, in the court's own words, "conservatively stated, robust."

The ruling, handed down Friday, closes one more door for a man who once sat atop the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange, testified before Congress, ran Super Bowl ads, and collected celebrity endorsements from the likes of Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, and Larry David. None of it mattered when the money ran out, and none of it saved him on appeal.

The appeals court's opinion, written by Judge Barrington D. Parker, dismantled the defense's central argument: that a series of rulings by the trial judge had limited the evidence Bankman-Fried could present, rendering the proceedings unfair. The panel was unconvinced. The evidence the government did present was more than enough.

A "personal piggy bank" worth billions

The appeals court's language left little room for ambiguity about what Bankman-Fried did with other people's money. As The Hill reported, the panel wrote:

"While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors, and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions, and investments."

That single sentence captures the full scope of the fraud. Customers trusted FTX with their deposits. Bankman-Fried told them the money was safe. Meanwhile, he transferred billions of dollars for his own use and falsified business records to hide the transactions.

When FTX collapsed in November 2022, it left customers, investors, and lenders short more than $11 billion. At sentencing, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan broke down the losses: customers lost about $8 billion, investors lost $1.7 billion, and lenders were shorted $1.3 billion.

Perjury on the witness stand

Bankman-Fried took the stand in his own defense. It did not go well.

Judge Kaplan, who presided over the trial, said at sentencing that Bankman-Fried's testimony was "often evasive, hair-splitting, dodging questions." That was the polite version. Kaplan went further, stating that Bankman-Fried repeatedly committed perjury on the witness stand.

Kaplan also rejected any suggestion that Bankman-Fried deserved credit because some investors and customers might eventually recover some of their money. The losses were real. The fraud was deliberate. And the testimony meant to explain it away was, in the trial judge's assessment, dishonest.

A jury agreed. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud and conspiracy in 2023, and the 25-year sentence followed.

The defense argument that failed

On appeal, Bankman-Fried's defense team argued that the trial judge's evidentiary rulings had hamstrung their case. The specific evidence the defense sought to introduce was not detailed in the court's public statements, but the core claim was straightforward: the trial was unfair because the defense couldn't present its full case.

The 2nd Circuit's three-judge panel found otherwise. The government's evidence stood on its own, billions transferred, records falsified, customers lied to. Whatever the defense wanted to add, the panel concluded, wouldn't have changed the outcome.

A request for comment was sent to Bankman-Fried's lawyer. A prosecutor's spokesperson declined to comment.

The rise and collapse of FTX

The speed of Bankman-Fried's ascent made the collapse all the more jarring. FTX grew into the world's second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. It advertised during the Super Bowl. Celebrity endorsements from Brady, Curry, and David gave the platform a mainstream sheen that drew in retail investors who might never have otherwise touched crypto.

Bankman-Fried himself cultivated an image as a new kind of financial wunderkind, testifying before Congress, making political contributions, and positioning himself as a responsible voice in an unregulated industry. The appeals court's opinion makes clear what was happening behind that image: customer funds were being spent on real estate, political donations, and personal investments while the books were cooked to hide it.

November 2022 brought the reckoning. FTX collapsed. The $11 billion shortfall surfaced. And the man who had reassured everyone that customer deposits were safe was exposed as having treated those deposits as his own.

What comes next

The appeals court heard oral arguments in November 2025 before issuing Friday's ruling. With the conviction now upheld, Bankman-Fried faces the remainder of a 25-year sentence. Whether further legal challenges will follow remains an open question, his defense team has not publicly commented on the ruling.

But the 2nd Circuit's opinion is unsparing. The evidence was "robust." The trial was fair. The fraud was proven. For the customers, investors, and lenders who lost billions, the system, however belatedly, held someone accountable.

In the end, the celebrity endorsements, the congressional testimony, and the carefully constructed public image bought Bankman-Fried exactly nothing. The law caught up. It usually does.