Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyer brings Supreme Court case over former FTX CEO

If U.S. Supreme Court justices agree to review the case, they could issue a decision in June 2027.

If the U.S. Supreme Court justices allow the case to be heard, they could issue a decision in June 2027.

Former FTX CEO Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried hopes to take his criminal case to the U.S. Supreme Court after being convicted in 2023, losing his appeal at the Second Circuit Court in 2026 and awaiting a decision on a presidential pardon that may never come.

Jeffrey Fisher, an attorney at the law firm Hecker Fink LLP and Bankman-Fried's representative at the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS), spoke with Cointelegraph about the possible timeline surrounding the former FTX executive's case and what observers can expect if the justices grant his request for a new sentence.

Bankman-Fried is seeking a Supreme Court review while seeking a pardon from President Donald Trump. According to Fisher, SCOTUS rules require SBF to file a writ petition within 90 days of the appeals court's decision, asking the justices to review the case.

The Supreme Court initially gave the US government until Oct. 15 to respond to SBF's request, but previously extended it to Nov. 16, which could allow the justices to decide whether to hear the case in late 2026 or early 2027. If the court grants the hearing of his client's case, it can issue a decision that ends in the current period 2 or in the current period. year from now

Bankman-Fried Bodm was charged with seven counts of fraud related to the misappropriation of customer funds by FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded and led, and filed for bankruptcy in November 2022. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion in fines.

Bankman-Fried's petition to the Supreme Court presents two main arguments for the justices, if the justices review the case, based on "evidence that the victims lost money" and that the $11 billion in forfeiture order after his conviction violates the Eighth Amendment's ban on "excessive fines."

"Over the years, the Supreme Court has expressed concern about judicial overreach in criminal fraud prosecutions," Fisher told Cointelegraph. This type of evidence presented in this courtroom raises a genuine question of prejudice to the defendant.

An argument presented by prosecutors at the SBF Criminal Court, and echoed by the Second Circuit's ruling, found that whether the former CEO had funds and intended to reimburse FTX victims for their losses at the cryptocurrency exchange was immaterial "as a matter of law."

"As the district court made clear, FTX's customers were defrauded as soon as Bankman-Fried transferred their money to Alameda, regardless of how strongly it believed it might return the money later," the Second Circuit said in its June 2026 decision.

According to Fisher, this theory differs from many fraud cases in which a defendant ``defrauded people and got rich'' at their expense.

"Our whole point is the theory the government has chosen that makes it irrelevant whether customers lost money or, if so, how much," the lawyer said.

The Supreme Court's petition noted that the highest court ruled in Koscius v. United States in 2025 that prosecutors can "seek decades-long prison terms any time people are forced to part with money because of false statements — even if they don't suffer material harm."

SBF's lawyers instead argued that the 2007 ruling by the First Circuit in United States v. The Court of Appeals first ruled in that case that a jury's decision could be based on "moral disapproval" rather than evidence of fraud.

Mark Binney, a former federal and state prosecutor and now a partner at Reed Smith, told Cointelegraph that he believes the likelihood of the court accepting SBF's arguments and granting a new trial "seems low," but that the terms of the seizure were "really interesting" based on the size: $11 billion. He called the reliance on US v. Carpenter rather than Kossis v. US an "uphill battle" for Bankman-Fried as a matter of law.

While many FTX users were eventually paid for their losses on the exchange at the start of 2025, the value of the tokens was based on the price at the time of the 2022 crash, meaning many could lose their profits. Three years between bankruptcy and repayment

Bankman-Farid's arrest warrant could haunt him long after he's released from prison, potentially allowing the government to claim his future earnings. The former CEO of FTX is expected to remain in prison until 2043.

"He doesn't have the money to pay for it," Fisher said. "Under the terms of the sentence, that's an $11 billion debt to the government for the rest of his life. Every dime he gets after his release has to be turned over to the government [...] There are rules, maybe he can keep a dime."

If the court accepts the seizure argument but rejects the claim that SBF has a right to present evidence related to user refunds, Bini said the possibility of reducing the amount of the seizure is more likely than warranting a new trial.

"It's a huge amount, and there's tension because the case law is that the government has the right to seek both forfeiture and extradition," said attorney Reed Smith.

Cointelegraph reached out to the Justice Department for comment on the case, but did not receive a response.

Carolyn Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, one of the main figures involved in the FTX collapse, is working after serving time in prison as part of an operation at Manifund, a fundraising charity linked to the effective philanthropy movement. Agreement with US authorities

According to Manifund co-founder and CEO Austin Chen, Ellison began working at the company on July 13, about six months after being released from federal custody. He accepted the full-time role on August 10.

"I believe in redemption," Chen said. Caroline has admitted her wrongdoings, tried to pay off creditors and served time in prison. I want to give him the opportunity to help the world; I hope the world will agree to it."

In a rare public statement, Ellison said he was "grateful to Austin for giving me another chance and judging me based on my current performance rather than my past."

Many of the comments on Chen's Substack post were overwhelmingly negative, from calling Ellison's hiring a "pretty outrageous move" to one that showed "truly terrible judgment."

“[Ellison] is a cynical opportunist who stole billions of dollars, and got a sweetheart deal because prosecutors were willing to give up everything to get Sam,” said Nick Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics. "He was very lucky to get such a light sentence. Shame on you for trying to rehabilitate him."