Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks New FTX Trial Over $16.5B Surplus

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, filed a motion in Manhattan federal court on February 10, 2026, seeking a new trial on his fraud conviction. In the filing under Rule 33 of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, Bankman-Fried argues that FTX held a net asset surplus of $16.5 billion when it entered bankruptcy in November 2022, challenging the prosecution's portrayal of the company as insolvent and fraudulent.

Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence after a 2023 jury conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy, claims the original trial omitted key evidence and silenced defense witnesses. His motion asserts that prosecutors misled the jury about FTX's financial health, presenting the collapse as a liquidity crisis rather than outright insolvency. He points to court documents showing the exchange's assets, including stakes in companies like Anthropic, exceeded liabilities by $16.5 billion on the bankruptcy petition date of November 11, 2022. These valuations, he argues, demonstrate that customer funds were recoverable and not lost to misappropriation.

The FTX saga began in November 2022 amid a surge in withdrawal...