Jailed Crypto Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks U.S Presidential Pardon

The founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has officially applied for a presidential pardon from United States President Donald Trump.

Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud and conspiracy, submitted the request through the Office of the Pardon Attorney. According to the U.S. Department of Justice website, the application is currently listed as “pending.”

The development comes despite previous statements from President Trump, who indicated during a January interview with The New York Times that he had no plans to grant a pardon to the 34-year-old former billionaire.

Bankman-Fried, widely known as SBF, rose to global notice after co-founding FTX in 2019, quickly turning the startup into the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange platform and becoming a billionaire before the age of 30.

However, his financial empire collapsed in November 2022 following a massive wave of customer withdrawals. Investigations later revealed that billions of dollars in customer funds had been illegally transferred from FTX to his personal hedge fund, Alameda Research.

A federal jury in New York convicted Bankman-Fried in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud, embezzlement, and criminal conspiracy. The former tech executive has since appealed his conviction while serving his sentence.