Sam Bankman-Fried Withdraws Rule 33 New Trial Request as Judge Fight Continues

Sam Bankman-Fried has withdrawn his Rule 33 new trial request in the Southern District of New York. He said he does not expect a fair hearing from Judge Lewis Kaplan. The withdrawal is “without prejudice,” so the new trial request can be renewed later after his appeal and the separate judge-removal process are resolved. Kaplan previously ordered Bankman-Fried to explain authorship of an earlier pro se filing, after prosecutors raised questions that included a letter sent to the court by his mother, Barbara Fried. Bankman-Fried said he consulted his parents but was the “ultimate author,” and he argued the court’s authorship inquiry delayed a fuller response to prosecutors’ opposition. He also denied involvement by his appellate lawyer or trial assistants in drafting the Rule 33 motion. Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year sentence tied to the 2023 FTX fraud conviction. His judge-removal bid—claiming “extreme prejudice”—is still pending, alongside appeals before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. For crypto traders, this decision is a procedural shift (headline risk) rather than a direct change to BTC fundamentals. It is unlikely to alter outcomes in the near term, but it may affect risk sentiment around FTX/crypto compliance headlines. BTC was around $77,600 at the time of publication.