Sam Bankman-Fried has formally asked Trump for a pardon. Trump has said he has “no intention” of granting one.

TL;DR

Sam Bankman-Fried has formally filed for a presidential pardon from federal prison, where he is serving 25 years for FTX fraud. Trump previously said he has “no intention” of granting one.

Sam Bankman-Fried has formally submitted a request for a presidential pardon to Donald Trump, according to records on the US Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney website. The filing, listed as a “pardon after completion of sentence,” was submitted in 2026 and is pending.

Bankman-Fried, 34, is serving a 25-year sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution in Hazelton, West Virginia. He was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy after a jury found he orchestrated the theft of billions of dollars in customer funds from FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded, and its affiliated trading firm Alameda Research.

The odds

Trump said in a January interview with The New York Times that he has “no intention of pardoning” Bankman-Fried. He grouped him with other high-profile figures whose pardon requests he said he planned to reject.

That statement is not legally binding, and Trump has reversed course on pardons before. But the political calculus is unfavourable: Bankman-Fried was the second-largest individual donor to Democratic causes in the 2022 midterms, contributing more than $40 million to Democratic-aligned political action committees and candidates.

The lobbying

Bankman-Fried confirmed his interest in clemency during a recent interview with Fox Business from prison. His parents, Stanford Law School professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, have previously reached out to individuals in Trump’s orbit to explore a pardon, according to reporting by The New York Times.

The formal application to the DOJ’s Pardon Attorney Office is a separate process from any informal lobbying. The office reviews applications and makes recommendations to the president, but the president has sole discretion over whether to grant clemency.

The FTX collapse

FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 after it emerged that customer deposits had been funnelled to Alameda Research to cover trading losses and fund personal ventures. The collapse wiped out an estimated $8 billion in customer funds and triggered a crisis across the cryptocurrency industry.

Bankman-Fried’s trial lasted roughly a month. Three of his former inner circle, including Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, pleaded guilty and testified against him. Ellison received a two-year sentence. Wang received no prison time.

Why it matters for tech

The pardon request is a test of how the Trump administration treats crypto-era financial crime. Trump has positioned himself as pro-crypto, signing executive orders to establish a national Bitcoin reserve and ease regulatory pressure on digital assets.

But pardoning the man behind the largest fraud in crypto history would send a signal that extends well beyond digital currencies. It would tell founders, investors, and regulators that the consequences of stealing customer money can be erased with the right political connections. Trump’s “no intention” statement suggests he understands that risk. Whether it holds is another matter.