Trump Denies Pardon for FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried

The hope for a presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has been extinguished. In a recent interview with The New York Times, former President Donald Trump confirmed he would not issue clemency to the imprisoned FTX founder. This statement delivers a final blow to a campaign that began in earnest last year when SBF and his parents sought a pardon from the president. Bankman-Fried, arrested as the mastermind behind the catastrophic 2022 collapse of the crypto derivatives giant FTX, has been serving a 25-year sentence since March 2024. His parents formally petitioned for a pardon in February 2025, and SBF himself had publicly expressed a desire for early release, notably praising Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández.

Trump’s denial carries significant weight, as it implies Bankman-Fried’s legal avenue for early release via executive clemency is now closed for the duration of Trump’s current term. The decision forces the former FTX CEO to confront the reality of his lengthy sentence and means any future pardon bid would depend on the disposition of a subsequent president. This outcome underscores the finality of his conviction for one of the largest financial frauds in cryptocurrency history, removing a potential shortcut to freedom that had been speculated upon in certain circles.

Trump’s refusal is particularly notable given his history of granting clemency to other prominent figures in the digital asset space. Last year, the former president issued pardons to several high-profile crypto individuals. These included BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, as well as Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and binance/?utm_source=CVJ.Ai&utm_medium=glossary&utm_id=CVJ.AI" target="_blank">Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ). Furthermore, earlier this year, Ilya Lichtenstein, the hacker behind the infamous Bitfinex breach, was released from prison under the First Step Act—legislation signed by Trump—after serving less than two months of a five-year sentence.

This established pattern of clemency for crypto-related crimes is what fueled hopes for a similar outcome for Bankman-Fried. However, the scale and nature of the FTX collapse appear to have created a distinction in Trump’s judgment. While figures like CZ faced regulatory charges, Bankman-Fried was convicted on multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy directly tied to the loss of billions in customer funds. The denial suggests that, despite a general openness to pardons in the sector, the severity and direct financial harm of the FTX case placed it beyond the pale for executive clemency under the current administration.

Sam Bankman-Fried was not the only individual to receive a presidential rejection. In the same interview, Trump made it clear he would not issue pardons to a select group of other figures. These include American rapper and producer Sean “Diddy” Combs, who was imprisoned for crimes related to prostitution, and Venezuela’s President Nicolás Maduro, recently arrested on narco-terrorism charges. Trump also stated he would not grant clemency to former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, who is currently serving an 11-year sentence for bribery and acting as an unregistered foreign agent.

This list of denials, juxtaposed with the previously granted pardons, reveals a calculated and selective approach to presidential clemency. The common thread among those denied—Bankman-Fried, Combs, Maduro, and Menendez—involves crimes perceived as severe breaches of public trust or national security, often with complex, high-profile legal proceedings. The decision signals that while Trump has used his pardon power liberally in some areas, particularly in the crypto domain, there are clear boundaries based on the perceived gravity of the offenses and their political context.