Key Takeaways:
- Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) withdrew his Rule 33 new trial motion on April 22, 2026, without prejudice, preserving the right to refile after his Second Circuit appeal concludes.
- Viral social media posts estimating FTX’s unliquidated portfolio would be worth $114 billion today, led by a 165x gain on Anthropic.
- SBF’s appeal and reassignment request before Judge Kaplan remain active, leaving the legal outcome of the FTX case unresolved through at least 2026.
SBF Withdraws Rule 33 Motion in SDNY, Preserves Right to Refile After Appeal
The withdrawal letter, docketed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York under Case 1:22-cr-00673-LAK, was addressed to Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Bankman-Fried cited two reasons for the move: he had been forced to respond to the court’s questions about attorney involvement instead of drafting a reply to prosecutors, and he stated he did not believe he would receive a fair hearing from Kaplan on the matter.
The motion was filed without prejudice, meaning Bankman-Fried can refile once the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rules on his direct appeal of the conviction and sentence, and after a related request to have the case reassigned to a different judge is decided.
Bankman-Fried filed the original Rule 33 motion on Feb. 10, 2026, through his mother, attorney Barbara Fried, while he was held at MDC Brooklyn. The motion alleged newly discovered evidence, including claims that the Department of Justice (DOJ) withheld information and applied pressure to witnesses, among them former FTX executive Ryan Salame and associate Daniel Chapsky. Prosecutors filed a 44-page opposition on March 11, 2026, arguing the motion contained no legitimate new evidence.
In a letter dated April 13, 2026, and filed from FCI Lompoc in California, Bankman-Fried addressed Judge Kaplan’s March 23 order requiring clarification on who helped draft the motion. He described himself as the “ultimate author,” stating he conceived the arguments, drafted multiple versions, and conducted most of the legal research using a word processor at MDC Brooklyn. He said his parents, both attorneys, offered editorial and organizational suggestions, and that a New York attorney he briefly retained had no significant input. He stated he did not consult his appellate counsel.
A jury in the Southern District of New York convicted Bankman-Fried in November 2023 on all seven counts, including wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering, tied to the misuse of customer funds at FTX and its affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research. Prosecutors called it one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024.
On the same day the withdrawal was docketed, a post by crypto news account Watcherguru and several other posts from crypto-related social media accounts, went viral on X, drawing attention back to FTX’s pre-collapse venture portfolio. The post presented a hypothetical: if FTX had never liquidated its investments following the 2022 collapse, what would those positions be worth today?
The figures cited were significant. The post estimated FTX’s solana (SOL) stake would now be valued at $5.1 billion, a gain of 27 times. Its SpaceX position was listed at $15 billion, a 75x return. A seed investment in AI coding tool Cursor was placed at $3 billion, representing a 15,000x multiple. A stake in Robinhood was estimated at $4.9 billion. FTX’s early investment in the artificial intelligence (AI) company Anthropic was listed at $82.3 billion, a 165x return. A position in Genesis Digital was placed at $3.5 billion. The post put the combined hypothetical portfolio value at $114 billion.
During the FTX bankruptcy, court-appointed trustees liquidated most of those positions at distressed prices to repay creditors and victims. The viral posts drew sharp responses across the platform. Some pointed to the early investment picks as evidence of Bankman-Fried’s analytical ability. Others pushed back, noting that the funds used to make those investments belonged to FTX customers and were moved without their consent.
The post’s framing captured a tension that has followed Bankman-Fried’s case since the collapse: the same entity that defrauded customers was also an early backer of some of the highest-performing assets of the current cycle.
Bankman-Fried also publicly sought a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. No pardon has been granted or indicated as forthcoming. His appeal before the Second Circuit remains active. So does the request for a new judge. The withdrawal of the Rule 33 motion does not affect either proceeding, and the door to a new trial bid remains open depending on how those matters are resolved.
