Bankman-Fried Drops Request for New Trial, Citing Fairness Concerns

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has rescinded his motion for a new trial, citing doubts about receiving a fair hearing. In a letter to the presiding judge, Bankman-Fried expressed his intention to potentially renew the motion after the outcome of his direct appeal and a related request for reassignment have been decided. Currently serving a 25-year sentence for multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy related to FTX's collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried initially filed the motion through his mother, Barbara Fried, who claimed that new evidence warranted a retrial. Bankman-Fried, who is detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, drafted the motion himself with limited assistance and consulted his lawyers and family members for input. He has clarified that while he is the primary author of the letter to the judge, he incorporated some editorial suggestions from his consultants. The appeal is presently before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, argued in November that the trial was fundamentally unfair due to limitations on the evidence Bankman-Fried could present to the jury.