President Trump Says No Pardon For Sam Bankman-Fried
President Donald Trump has dominated out a pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, slicing off a line of hypothesis that had lingered in crypto circles because the jailed FTX founder fights his conviction and searches for any political escape hatch.
Trump delivered the message in a sweeping interview with The New York Times, the place he additionally fielded questions on clemency for different high-profile names, together with Sean “Diddy” Combs.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried in Nov. 2023 on fraud and conspiracy counts tied to the misuse of billions in buyer funds. A decide sentenced him in March 2024 to 25 years in prison, and he has appealed both the conviction and sentence.
The pardon discuss by no means totally went away. Bloomberg reported in Jan. 2025 that Bankman-Fried’s mother and father, Stanford legislation professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, started exploring clemency outreach by means of conferences with legal professionals and other people linked to Trump’s orbit.
From Silk Road To Binance, Trump Has Shown Willingness To Pardon Crypto Figures
Trump’s blunt reply stands out as a result of he has proven a willingness to make use of clemency in crypto-linked circumstances. He pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in Jan. 2025, a call celebrated by components of the libertarian and Bitcoin group.
He adopted with pardons for the BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, together with others tied to the trade, after their Bank Secrecy Act associated convictions.
Trump later pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on Oct. 23, drawing criticism given Binance’s high profile enforcement historical past.
When requested about Zhao’s pardon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly stated the president “exercised his constitutional authority,” saying that Zhao “was prosecuted by the Biden Administration of their conflict on cryptocurrency.”
Investor Anger Over FTX Collapse Leaves Little Room For Mercy
Bankman-Fried’s case sits in a unique class for a lot of buyers, one outlined much less by regulatory fight and extra by a collapse that scorched prospects and funds throughout the business.
In the identical interview, Trump defended his broader embrace of digital property in political and strategic phrases. “I received quite a lot of votes as a result of I backed crypto, and I received to love it,” Trump stated within the interview. “China wished it, and one in all us was going to get it.”
For Bankman-Fried, that leaves the courts as the one life like route. His enchantment continues, and Trump’s newest remarks sign that any clemency marketing campaign across the former FTX chief will run right into a closed door on the White House.
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