Sam Bankman-Fried filed a motion on Feb. 5 with the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, requesting a new trial in his FTX fraud case. The request centers on testimony from former executives Daniel Chapsky and Ryan Salame, which was unavailable at the time of the original proceedings. Bankman-Fried asserts that this testimony could cast doubt on critical elements of the prosecution’s narrative regarding FTX’s financial stability prior to its collapse in November 2022.
In the motion, Bankman-Fried’s legal team, led by his mother and former Stanford law professor Barbara Fried, argues that the exclusion of this evidence at trial violated his Sixth Amendment rights. The motion claims that Salame’s cooperation agreement and Chapsky’s insider perspective could have provided the jury with a more nuanced understanding of corporate decision-making at FTX and Alameda Research.
The filing also challenges the impartiality of trial judge Lewis Kaplan, alleging “manifest prejudice” in precluding certain defense arguments related to asset valuations and liquidity projections. Kaplan’s rulings on evidentiary motions, including those limiting cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, form a significant portion of the appeal brief.
Prosecutors secured a conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy in late 2023, resulting in a 25-year sentence, one of the longest in US white-collar crime history. Bankman-Fried has maintained his innocence, citing a absence of intent to defraud and highlighting secure client fund storage practices employed by FTX at the time. The defense argues that operational complexities and third-party financial arrangements were mischaracterized as deliberate misappropriation.
The Second Circuit will now determine whether the motion meets the high legal standard for a new trial. Motions for post-conviction relief of this nature are infrequently granted and require demonstration of both legal error and material impact on the verdict. Observers note that appellate courts typically defer to trial court findings absent compelling evidence of misconduct or juror prejudice.
Meanwhile, the FTX bankruptcy estate continues to process repayments, having returned billions to customers through phased distributions. More than $8 billion has been disbursed as of January 2026, with additional recoveries pending litigation outcomes. The ongoing dispute over asset recoveries remains one of the largest and most complex in cryptocurrency history.
Should the appeals court accept the motion, a new trial could entail extensive revisiting of financial documents, witness testimony, and expert analyses of trading operations. Conversely, denial would leave Bankman-Fried’s conviction intact, though separate direct appeal proceedings remain in progress. The appellate process could extend into late 2026 or beyond, further delaying final resolution for stakeholders affected by the FTX collapse.
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