Bankman-Fried Drops Request for New Trial Due to Fairness Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has officially withdrawn his motion for a retrial, citing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. Currently serving a 25-year sentence for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried indicated that he might reconsider filing for a retrial after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment have been decided. The initial motion for a new trial was submitted by his mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that newly discovered evidence warranted a retrial. Bankman-Fried, who drafted the motion with limited assistance while in detention, stated that he may renew the motion at a later time. His appeal is currently pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his lawyer argued that the original trial was fundamentally unfair due to restrictions on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.