- Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has formally requested a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump while serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy convictions.
- The clemency petition is currently under review by the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, with the case listed as pending.
- Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 following the collapse of FTX, which was triggered by an $8 billion shortfall linked to Alameda Research.
The founder and former CEO of the infamous cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has formally asked President Donald Trump for a presidential pardon while incarcerated for 25 years on charges of fraud and conspiracy.
Records from the Office of the Pardon Attorney at the U.S. Department of Justice state that the clemency request was submitted on Monday and is presently being examined.
The fact that the matter is marked as pending means that a formal petition has been filed and is being reviewed. Details of ongoing clemency reviews are not made public by the office.
In 2023, Sam, also referred to as SBF, was found guilty of masterminding a fraud and conspiracy plot that caused FTX, formerly one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, to fail.
In November 2022, FTX declared bankruptcy due to financial ties to its linked trading firm, Alameda Research. According to reports, the exchange’s accounts had a $8 billion shortfall, which caused an increase in customer withdrawals and finally brought about the company’s demise.
SBF Confirms Pardon Request
In a recent interview with FOX Business, SBF expressed his interest in clemency.
“I assume that you would want a pardon from the White House?” Susan Li, a correspondent for FOX Business, called him. “Absolutely,” said Sam. “It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me.”
He refused to comment on whether his family members were advocating for him in the administration. Professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried of Stanford Law School, Sam’s parents, have already contacted people in Trump’s inner circle to inquire about a potential presidential pardon for their son. Whether there were any direct conversations with White House officials is unclear.
The pardon request comes after months of public remarks made by Sam that support Trump’s stances. He has praised the president’s decision to launch strikes against Iran, claimed that Trump helped “save” the Securities and Exchange Commission by replacing former Chair Gary Gensler with Paul Atkins, and highlighted lower gas prices during Trump’s administration in letters sent through intermediaries using prison-approved communications.
Trump’s Crypto Pardons Raise Questions About SBF’s Chances
Sam also appears to be following a plan he created to try to win over Republicans after being identified as a Democratic mega-donor during the 2020 race. This playbook contained things like his appearance on Tucker Carlson’s show from the previous year.
Trump’s readiness to pardon prominent offenders, including a number of those associated with the cryptocurrency industry, has garnered attention to the approach.
Trump has pardoned the co-founders of BitMEX, former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht since taking office again.
Trump’s backing is far from certain. In an interview with The New York Times in January, the president remarked that Bankman-Fried should not expect clemency, lumping him in with a number of other prominent defendants that he had no intention of pardoning.
For the time being, Bankman-Fried is still behind bars while his mercy petition and appeal proceed through different procedures.
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