The long and tangled FTX saga has flared up again after blockchain analyst ZachXBT publicly challenged Sam Bankman-Fried over an alleged secret payment to Chinese authorities.
Key Takeaways
- Blockchain investigator ZachXBT called out Sam Bankman-Fried for allegedly concealing a $40M transfer.
- SBF’s lawyers argued in court that his 2023 conviction was biased and demanded a new trial.
- The transaction is believed to have been linked to efforts to unlock $1B in frozen Chinese exchange accounts.
The renewed accusation surfaced just as the former crypto billionaire’s legal team appeared before a New York appeals court to contest his 2023 conviction.
This isn’t the first time the $40 million transaction has come under scrutiny. On-chain traces originally uncovered in 2023 suggested that funds tied to FTX and its trading arm Alameda Research might have been routed through a series of wallets before reaching Chinese entities. Now, those claims are resurfacing as Bankman-Fried seeks a second chance in court.
A Trial Under Fire
In Tuesday’s hearing, attorney Alexandra Shapiro argued that her client was denied a fair trial. Addressing a three-judge panel at the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, she accused presiding judge Lewis Kaplan of showing bias and “tilting the scale” in favor of prosecutors. Shapiro maintained that the case against the 33-year-old entrepreneur was built more on outrage than evidence, and urged the court to grant a retrial under a different judge.
The defense claims that the jury’s swift verdict—reached after less than five hours of deliberation—reflected prejudice, not justice. They insist that the portrayal of Bankman-Fried as intentionally deceitful ignored the chaotic circumstances surrounding FTX’s collapse.
Blockchain Sleuth Raises Old Questions
The renewed attention began when Bankman-Fried’s official X account shared a message commenting on statements made by FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray III. In the post, SBF mentioned that FTX debtors were still holding back funds owed to Chinese creditors.
That’s when ZachXBT stepped in. Quoting the message, he wrote, “Riddle me about the $40M transfer to Chinese authorities you hid from the public?” He attached a post from 2023 linking one of FTX’s wallets to a suspicious transfer that matched allegations in U.S. court filings.
Supporting his claim, another analyst known as DefiSquared had previously traced multiple wallet interactions involving addresses connected to FTX. The investigation showed a pattern of wrapped Bitcoin being converted into USDT through Gate.io and linked back to a November 2021 transaction worth $40 million — the same amount federal prosecutors claimed was sent to unfreeze Alameda’s Chinese accounts.
[ZachXBT says:]
Riddle me about the $40M transfer to Chinese authorities you hid from the public? https://t.co/ak3VSRDywz pic.twitter.com/zgwZvfR7bq
— ZachXBT (@zachxbt) November 7, 2025
Prosecutors’ View: A Direct Bribe
According to the indictment, Bankman-Fried and his team had spent months trying to regain access to nearly $1 billion in crypto frozen on Chinese exchanges. Legal appeals and personal outreach failed, leading prosecutors to allege that the FTX founder “agreed to and directed” a multimillion-dollar payment to Chinese officials to unlock the funds.
That accusation formed part of a broader fraud case that ultimately found Bankman-Fried guilty on all seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy. Jurors sided with the government after a short deliberation, marking one of the fastest verdicts in a crypto trial of that scale.
The Bigger Picture
While the legal battle continues, the alleged $40 million payment remains an open wound in the FTX narrative. For many in the crypto community, the resurfacing of the blockchain evidence raises uncomfortable questions about just how far the exchange’s leadership went to maintain access to their vast funds.
Whether the appeal succeeds or not, the reemergence of this transaction ensures that the FTX collapse—and the mysteries that still surround it—won’t fade quietly into history.
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Source: https://coindoo.com/ftx-founder-accused-of-40m-bribe-to-chinese-authorities/