Sam Bankman-Fried Issues Not-Guilty Plea in FTX Case

The FTX founder was arrested in the Bahamas last month and faces charges including wire fraud and money laundering

article-image

FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried | Exclusive art by Axel Rangel modified by Blockworks

share

Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to a slate of alleged financial crimes before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan on Tuesday, though whether that plea will stand remains to be seen.

The founder of crypto exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in November, was arrested in the Bahamas last month. He faces charges including wire fraud, money laundering and violating campaign finance laws, which altogether carry a maximum penalty of 115 years in prison.

Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail last month and ordered to stay under house arrest at his parents’ home in California.

New FTX CEO John Ray testified to the US House Financial Services Committee last month that the exchange lost $8 billion of customer money. 

Though Bankman-Fried has acknowledged a lack of focus on risk management at FTX, he has denied commingling funds in various interviews with media outlets in recent weeks. 

A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined to comment on the plea.

The not guilty plea comes after former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges last month. 

Ilan Graff, Wang’s lawyer, told Blockworks in an email at the time that his client “has accepted responsibility for his actions and takes seriously his obligations as a cooperating witness.”

Seth Taube, a former federal prosecutor and ex-SEC official, previously told Blockworks that if convicted, Bankman-Fried could receive a decades-long sentence.

“If he cooperates, he may get out before he needs a cane,” Taube added at the time.

Despite the not guilty plea, Bankman-Fried could change his decision going forward. 

Michael Milken — an executive at Drexel Burnham Lambert charged with racketeering and securities fraud — pleaded not guilty in 1989 before changing to a guilty plea on six felony counts the following year.


Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

Tags

Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily, with Byron Gilliam.

Upcoming Events

Old Billingsgate

Mon - Wed, October 13 - 15, 2025

Blockworks’ Digital Asset Summit (DAS) will feature conversations between the builders, allocators, and legislators who will shape the trajectory of the digital asset ecosystem in the US and abroad.

recent research

Research Report Templates.jpg

Research

Figure, founded by former SoFi CEO Mike Cagney, has emerged as a leader in onchain RWAs, with ~$17.5B publicly tokenized. The platform’s ecosystem volume is growing ~40% YoY as it expands beyond HELOCs into student loans, DSCR loans, unsecured loans, bankruptcy claims, and more. Operationally, Figure cuts average loan production cost by ~93% and compresses median funding time from ~42 days to ~10, creating a durable speed-and-cost advantage.

article-image

Former White House crypto official Bo Hines is expected to be the CEO of the new project

article-image

In bonds, stablecoins and billionaires, a reminder of what makes crypto special

article-image

21Shares exec says CPI and PPI data supports a Fed rate cut, with market leaning toward a 25bps decrease

article-image

The Ethereum co-founder suggested LINEA holders would be eligible for other airdrops in cryptic tweet

article-image

The layer-2’s biggest release yet brings benefits — but a post-upgrade outage caused a chain reorg

article-image

Crypto is shifting into risk-on mode — pump.fun dominates meme activity, while Lido leans on treasury maneuvers