Sam Bankman-Fried yesterday lost his bid to be freed immediately from a Brooklyn jail so he could prepare better for his criminal trial, less than a month away, over the collapse of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, Reuters reported. In rejecting Bankman-Fried's request, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in Manhattan nonetheless said that it would ask the next available three-judge panel to consider it. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Aug. 11 revoked Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail after finding that the former billionaire likely tampered with witnesses at least twice. Bankman-Fried quickly appealed, arguing he would be unable to properly prepare for his scheduled Oct. 3 trial from behind bars. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried stole billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his hedge fund.
