Trump Rules Out Pardon for Convicted FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried

Trump Dismisses Clemency for FTX Founder

President Donald Trump has definitively stated he will not grant a pardon to Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX who is currently serving a lengthy federal prison sentence. Trump made the statement during an interview with The New York Times when asked about potential clemency for several high-profile inmates ^[1][2].

The announcement effectively ends months of speculation within cryptocurrency and political circles about whether the convicted fraud architect might receive presidential clemency ^[2].

Political Donations and Campaign Connections

During his remarks, Trump referenced that Bankman-Fried had donated approximately 5.2 million dollars to the Biden campaign during the 2020 presidential election cycle, though he left ambiguous whether this influenced his decision against granting a pardon ^[1].

Bankman-Fried was among the largest donors to Democrats in the 2022 cycle, though he later claimed in interviews that he had secretly contributed comparable amounts to Republicans and had become disillusioned with the Biden administration ^[2].

The FTX Collapse and Criminal Conviction

Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence in November 2024 after a New York jury convicted him on seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy ^[1][2]. He is currently in the appeals process ^[1].

Prosecutors demonstrated that Bankman-Fried orchestrated a scheme diverting customer funds to support his hedge fund, Alameda Research, while publicly presenting FTX as a secure and compliant exchange ^[2].

The scandal emerged in 2022 when it became public knowledge that the cryptocurrency exchange had misappropriated billions of dollars in customer funds ^[1]. Rather than safeguarding deposits, funds were secretly transferred to Alameda Research, which was also controlled by Bankman-Fried ^[1].

When losses and liquidity problems became public, a bank run ensued, causing FTX to collapse within days and file for bankruptcy ^[1]. Investigators accused Bankman-Fried of systematically deceiving investors and customers ^[1]. The case is considered one of the largest fraud cases in modern financial history and severely damaged trust in the entire cryptocurrency industry ^[1]. The collapse eliminated billions in customer assets and triggered a global regulatory crackdown on crypto firms ^[2].

Bankman-Fried's Clemency Campaign

Since his conviction, Bankman-Fried and his supporters have pursued multiple strategies that appeared designed to improve his public image and create opportunities for clemency ^[2].

In early 2024, Bankman-Fried conducted a rare jailhouse interview with Tucker Carlson, presenting himself as misunderstood and asserting that FTX customers would have been made whole without government intervention ^[2]. The interview circulated widely among conservative audiences and was viewed by many as a calculated appeal to Trump-aligned media personalities ^[2].

Concurrently, Bankman-Fried's parents, both Stanford law professors, submitted letters to the court requesting leniency at sentencing, highlighting his charitable intentions and arguing that a decades-long prison term would be excessive ^[2].

Context of Presidential Pardons

While Trump has argued that allies prosecuted under the Biden administration were victims of a weaponized Justice Department, Bankman-Fried's case does not align with that narrative, as the fraud investigation began before Biden took office and was driven by customer losses and internal FTX records ^[2].

Trump previously pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October 2025 for his 2023 guilty plea to money laundering violations, a move the White House framed as ending the Biden administration's war on cryptocurrency and potentially allowing Binance to re-enter the U.S. market ^[2].