Jailed crypto founder Sam Bankman-Fried seeks Trump pardon

The former leader of crypto platform FTX, currently serving a 25-year sentence, on Monday officially applied to be pardoned.

FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried has officially filed for a pardon from President Trump, according to the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney Office website. Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted on fraud and money laundering charges in 2024. The pardon application was first reported by Bloomberg News.

The fallen crypto mogul serving a 25-year sentence filed a clemency petition, betting on Donald Trump's history of crypto pardons even though the president had told him not to count on one. Bankman-Fried, 34, co-founded the disgraced crypto exchange FTX and was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024. Bankman-Fried’s application with the Justice Department, first reported by Bloomberg, is for a 'pardon after completion of sentence.' Such a pardon would not erase Bankman-Fried’s conviction but would instead restore certain civil liberties after he serves out his prison sentence, according to the DOJ’s website.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX who is serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy, has applied for a pardon from US President Donald Trump. The website of the Office of the Pardon Attorney of the Department of Justice lists a request by Bankman-Fried for a pardon and says its status is 'pending.' Trump, in an interview with The New York Times in January, said he did not plan to issue a pardon to the 34-year-old Bankman-Fried. Since taking office last year, the Republican president has pardoned scores of white-collar criminals, most recently a former Republican congressman from Indiana who was convicted of insider trading.

FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a formal request for a presidential pardon, asking President Donald Trump to erase the estimated fraud charges tied to the crypto exchange’s implosion—a long-shot bid that comes after Trump said in January he was not planning to grant the FTX founder any clemency. The 34-year-old's petition appears on the Justice Department Pardon Attorney Office's public case-status listing, categorized as a request for a 'pardon after completion of sentence.'

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and a convicted fraudster, is seeking a presidential pardon from Donald Trump after being sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $11 billion for misusing investors’ funds. Now 34, Bankman-Fried applied for a 'pardon after completion of sentence' with the Department of Justice's Pardon Attorney's Office. In a Fox Business interview, he expressed willingness to accept a pardon from Trump, though admitted he has not contacted Trump personally and cannot confirm if others have done so on his behalf. Trump previously stated he had no intention to pardon Bankman-Fried. Despite his conviction for wire fraud and conspiracy following FTX’s collapse in 2022, Bankman-Fried continues to deny wrongdoing, claiming customers have been repaid 170% on their deposits. He’s also praised Trump and Elon Musk on social media, possibly seeking favor. The DOJ and White House have not commented on the matter.