Sam Bankman-Fried Appeal Rejected, 25‑Year Prison Term Upheld

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals denied Sam Bankman‑Fried’s request to overturn his fraud convictions and 25‑year prison sentence, confirming the lower‑court judgment. The decision, issued on August 4, 2026, leaves the former FTX founder with only a slim prospect of a U.S. Supreme Court review.

The ruling ends the last major appellate avenue for Bankman‑Fried, whose case stemmed from the 2022 collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange and the alleged misappropriation of billions of dollars to Alameda Research. Legal analysts note that the verdict may help restore some confidence in crypto markets by removing lingering uncertainty about the outcome of the high‑profile fraud case.