The Second Circuit officially issued its mandate on August 4, 2026, formally closing Sam Bankman-Fried's appeal and locking in his criminal conviction. According to BeInCrypto, the mandate affirms the June 12 ruling that upheld his FTX fraud convictions and 25-year prison sentence. The document was logged as entry 77 in case No. 24-961 and signed by clerk Catherine O'Hagan Wolfe for judges Barrington D. Parker, Eunice C. Lee, and Maria Araújo Kahn. As reported by BeInCrypto, a mandate returns a case to the trial court and makes an appellate ruling fully effective, effectively removing any remaining circuit-court uncertainty.
The mandate affirms the 25-year prison sentence that was originally imposed following Bankman-Fried's conviction on fraud charges related to FTX. According to BeInCrypto, the panel rejected the FTX founder's appeal and left the seven-count conviction intact, keeping the sentence Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed in March 2024. The court also upheld the roughly ₹8,800 crore forfeiture, finding that Congress may tie forfeiture to a defendant's gains. Judge Parker's opinion described the jury's findings: "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."
Bankman-Fried argued that FTX's later asset recovery weakened the government's fraud case, maintaining that the exchange had sufficient value and that creditors' losses were not necessarily permanent. However, the Second Circuit rejected this argument, ruling that wire fraud occurred when customer funds were transferred to Alameda without authorization, regardless of whether Bankman-Fried believed the money could later be repaid. As Judge Parker wrote: "As the district court made clear, FTX customers were defrauded as soon as Bankman-Fried transferred their money to Alameda regardless of how strongly he believed he might later return the money." The court also found that evidence about subsequent FTX-linked investment value was not relevant to whether initial transfers constituted fraud.
With the mandate issued, Bankman-Fried may petition the US Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari within 90 days of judgment, though the court hears only a small fraction of such petitions. As reported by BeInCrypto, this represents the only remaining judicial route for challenging the conviction. The former FTX CEO has separately filed a pardon application with the Justice Department, though President Trump said in January that he was not considering one. Meanwhile, political resistance has grown significantly, with the US Senate passing a nonbinding resolution in July by unanimous consent opposing a pardon, commutation or other form of federal clemency for the former FTX executive. The resolution does not limit the president's constitutional pardon power but signals bipartisan opposition to reducing Bankman-Fried's punishment.
FTX scheduled its fifth creditor distribution for July 31, with nearly $900 million expected to reach claimants holding approved Convenience and Non-Convenience Class claims. As reported by crypto.news, eligible creditors had to complete the exchange's pre-distribution requirements by the June 16 record date, with Kraken, Payoneer and BitGo among the approved providers handling payments. The distributions arise from FTX's Chapter 11 reorganization plan and do not reverse the criminal findings against Bankman-Fried. The appeals court's decision separates Bankman-Fried's criminal liability from creditor recovery through bankruptcy proceedings, with the distinction being relevant to US creditors who may recover approved bankruptcy claims while the former FTX executive continues serving his federal sentence.
