Sam Bankman-Fried applied for Trump pardon

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FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a pardon, as he serves out a 25-year sentence on fraud charges tied to the high-profile collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.

Bankman-Fried is seeking a pardon after the completion of his sentence, according to the Office of the Pardon Attorney’s website.

The disgraced crypto mogul, who was once considered the industry’s golden boy, was arrested in late 2022 after FTX collapsed.

The exchange filed for bankruptcy after customers attempted to withdraw billions of dollars in funds amid concerns about its financial health. The effective run on the crypto platform exposed discrepancies in its handling of customer funds.

A jury ultimately found Bankman-Fried guilty on various fraud and conspiracy charges for illegally using customer funds to bankroll his own lifestyle, including large political donations.

The FTX founder reportedly has been campaigning for a pardon from President Trump, according to The New York Times. However, Trump told the Times in January that he didn’t plan to grant Bankman-Fried a pardon.

The president has pardoned several controversial figures in his second term, including Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.

Zhao pleaded guilty in 2023 to failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering regime at his crypto exchange and was sentenced to four months in prison. Trump pardoned him in October, with the White House arguing he was prosecuted as part of the Biden administration’s “war on cryptocurrency.”

However, the president quickly sought to distance himself from Zhao’s pardon, suggesting he didn’t know who the Binance founder was. The decision came under scrutiny given the Trump family’s business dealings with the crypto exchange.

The White House dismissed these concerns at the time, with press secretary Karoline Leavitt arguing that “neither the president nor his family have ever engaged, or will ever engage, in conflicts of interest.”

Americans for Financial Reform, a progressive nonprofit, slammed Bankman-Fried’s pardon request Monday as “one more striking indication of the level of impunity that crypto industry figures expect from the President.”

“This particular wish may or may not be granted, but the request — despite Bankman-Fried’s conviction on multiple counts of fraud — should come as little surprise,” it added.

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Binance

Changpeng Zhao

crypto

cryptocurrency

Donald Trump

Donald Trump

FTX

Joe Biden

Karoline Leavitt

Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried

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