Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) Appeal Mandate Issued, Only One Strand of Hope Left

The SBF appeal mandate issued on August 4 closes Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) case at the Second Circuit appeals court. The one-page order affirms the judgment and adds no new reasoning.

A mandate returns a case to the trial court and makes an appellate ruling fully effective. This one leaves the former FTX chief’s 25-year prison term in place.

What the SBF Appeal Mandate Actually Says

The US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit logged it as entry 77 in case No. 24-961. It names the three judges who heard the appeal, Barrington D. Parker, Eunice C. Lee and Maria Araújo Kahn.

Then comes the operative line. The court “ORDERED, ADJUDGED and DECREED that the judgment of the district court is AFFIRMED.”

Nothing else is decided. Catherine O’Hagan Wolfe, clerk of court, signed it for the panel. A stamp at the foot records the mandate issuing on 08/04/2026.

Why the June Ruling Still Governs

The substance landed almost two months earlier. On June 12, the panel rejected the FTX founder’s appeal and left the seven-count conviction intact. It also kept the sentence Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed in March 2024.

Parker wrote for the panel, describing what the jury had heard.

“While he was publicly reassuring customers, investors and regulators that FTX customer funds were safe, he was simultaneously using FTX as his own personal piggy bank, spending customer funds on real estate, political contributions and investments,” Barrington D. Parker, Circuit Judge, Second Circuit opinion.

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The panel also upheld the roughly $11 billion forfeiture, finding Congress may tie forfeiture to a defendant’s gains. Kaplan had already denied a retrial motion in April.

The One Strand Left

Only one judicial route survives. Bankman-Fried may petition the US Supreme Court for a writ of certiorari, generally within 90 days of judgment. The court hears a small fraction of such petitions.

He has separately filed a pardon application with the Justice Department. Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego have since introduced a resolution opposing any SBF pardon.

Meanwhile, the money moves on a separate track. FTX creditors received a fifth round of repayments at the end of July. The mandate settles the appellate question, and what the Supreme Court makes of it is the only one still open.