Trump Rules Out Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried

In an interview with The New York Times, Trump said he has no intention of intervening in Bankman-Fried’s case, which means that the 25-year prison sentence tied to the collapse of FTX will stand. Although Trump previously granted pardons to people connected to the crypto sector, his comments make clear that Bankman-Fried’s conviction and sentence place him outside the scope of any such consideration.

No Pardon Coming for SBF

US President Donald Trump indicated that he does not plan to grant a presidential pardon to Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto executive serving a 25-year federal prison sentence for his role in the collapse of the now-defunct exchange FTX. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Trump said he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried,  and grouped him with other high-profile people he has no plans to grant clemency to, including music producer Sean Combs and former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez.

Bankman-Fried has been incarcerated since August of 2023, when a federal judge revoked his bail ahead of his criminal trial. He was ultimately sentenced in March 2024 after being convicted on seven felony counts related to the misuse of billions of dollars in customer funds. This case quickly became one of the biggest criminal prosecutions in the history of the crypto industry. 

Sam Bankman-Fried

While Bankman-Fried received a lengthy sentence, other executives involved in the FTX collapse secured reduced prison terms after cooperating with prosecutors. Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison was sentenced to two years, while former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame also received a shorter sentence as part of a plea agreement.

During the same interview, Trump addressed questions about his own ties to the cryptocurrency sector, and pushed back against suggestions of conflicts of interest. He acknowledged that his pro-crypto stance helped him politically and said that he has grown more favorable toward the industry. Trump and his family have links to several crypto-related ventures, including the Bitcoin mining firm American Bitcoin and World Liberty Financial, the platform behind the USD1 stablecoin.

Since his conviction, reports have suggested that Bankman-Fried tried to position himself for a possible pardon by pointing out his alleged Republican ties and engaging with conservative media figures like Tucker Carlson. Despite this, betting markets on Polymarket assigned only a small probability that Trump would pardon him before 2027.

Trump has previously exercised his pardon power in cases connected to the crypto world, including granting clemency to Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, and pardoning former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who served a four-month sentence. However, Trump’s comments make clear that Bankman-Fried is not expected to receive similar treatment.