Trump Signals No Clemency for Sam Bankman-Fried Despite Crypto Industry Ties

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried should not expect a presidential pardon from Donald Trump, according to comments the president made in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times. The remarks significantly dim hopes that Bankman-Fried, currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and related charges tied to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, could receive executive clemency.

While discussing his decision not to pardon music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs in connection with prostitution-related charges, Trump made clear that Bankman-Fried was also not under consideration for a pardon. The president indicated that despite his strong public support for the cryptocurrency industry, he does not intend to intervene in the former FTX executive’s case.

Bankman-Fried has recently attempted a public rehabilitation campaign, appearing in Republican-friendly media outlets and signaling support for conservative causes. However, Trump suggested that these efforts have not translated into a direct appeal that would sway his decision. Reports indicate that Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford Law School professors Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, have met with lawyers and individuals close to Trump in an effort to secure a pardon for their son, but those efforts appear unsuccessful so far.

The former FTX CEO shares an appeals attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, with Combs, and both men were reportedly housed in the same dormitory at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Trump’s comments also referenced other high-profile figures he does not plan to pardon, including former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, who faces U.S. charges related to narco-terrorism.

Ironically, Bankman-Fried has publicly praised Trump for granting clemency to former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, convicted of drug trafficking offenses. In the digital asset sector, Trump has previously issued pardons to notable figures such as former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, and the co-founders of BitMEX.

Despite Trump’s pro-crypto stance and history of pardoning prominent figures in the industry, his latest remarks suggest that Sam Bankman-Fried’s chances of receiving a presidential pardon remain slim, reinforcing the seriousness of the legal consequences stemming from the FTX collapse.