Sam Bankman-Fried, the imprisoned founding father of the collapsed cryptocurrency alternate FTX, has filed a proper clemency petition with the U.S. Division of Justice’s Workplace of the Pardon Legal professional, requesting a presidential pardon from President Donald Trump whereas serving a 25-year jail sentence for fraud and conspiracy.
The applying, now listed as pending in DOJ information, comes as Bankman-Fried pursues a simultaneous attraction of his conviction and sentence.
In a cellphone interview with FOX Enterprise correspondent Susan Li — his first on-record media look from behind bars — Bankman-Fried made clear he needs Trump’s intervention. “I assume that you’d need a pardon from the White Home?” Li requested. “Completely,” Bankman-Fried replied. “It might be, clearly, finally as much as the president, less than me.”
When pressed on whether or not his dad and mom or relations had been lobbying the administration on his behalf, Bankman-Fried provided solely a deflection: “I can’t converse for them.”
The pardon software is listed on the DOJ’s clemency case standing portal as a request for a “pardon after completion of sentence.” The workplace confirmed that particulars of ongoing evaluations aren’t disclosed to the general public.
President Donald Trump has stated that he is not going to pardon former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, rejecting clemency for the convicted government.
Bankman-Fried’s failure at FTX
Bankman-Fried was sentenced on March 28, 2024, to 25 years in federal jail after a New York jury discovered him responsible on all seven felony counts in November 2023, together with two counts of wire fraud and 5 counts of conspiracy.
Prosecutors demonstrated that he misused billions of {dollars} in buyer deposits to fund dangerous bets at his affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Analysis, whereas additionally financing political donations and actual property purchases.
The courtroom discovered that FTX clients misplaced $8 billion, fairness buyers in FTX misplaced $1.7 billion, and lenders to Alameda Analysis misplaced $1.3 billion. Decide Lewis Kaplan ordered an $11 billion forfeiture.
Regardless of the decision, Bankman-Fried refuses to characterize his conduct as theft.
“I didn’t steal person funds both,” he informed Li. “Prospects have been repaid now 170% or so on their deposits. It’s one of many only a few instances the place the platform was over-collateralized, the place clients had been greater than made entire. And but there was not only a felony investigation, however a prosecution and dozens of years of sentence.”
He pointed to the restoration of cryptocurrency markets through the FTX chapter course of as the rationale buyer payouts exceeded unique deposit quantities.
“It’s an amazing disservice to them that it has taken three years,” he added.
The push for clemency follows a months-long sample of public statements from Bankman-Fried that mirror Trump’s positions.
Writing by means of prison-approved communications, he has praised Trump’s choice to strike Iran, credited the president with rescuing the Securities and Change Fee by means of the appointment of Paul Atkins to switch Gary Gensler, and highlighted falling gasoline costs beneath the present administration.
The method mirrors a political repositioning technique Bankman-Fried had deployed earlier than — after being seen as a Democratic mega-donor in 2020, he appeared on Tucker Carlson’s program in 2025 to sign alignment with conservative audiences.
The bid locations Bankman-Fried alongside a wave of high-profile defendants who’ve obtained clemency from Trump since his return to workplace.
Trump pardoned Silk Highway founder Ross Ulbricht, former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, and the co-founders of BitMEX.
The FTX collapse started in November 2022 after CoinDesk reported on steadiness sheet considerations linking FTX to Alameda Analysis, triggering a buyer run that uncovered an $8 billion hole within the alternate’s accounts.
Key FTX insiders, together with former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, testified in opposition to Bankman-Fried after pleading responsible and cooperating with federal prosecutors.