President Donald Trump has ruled out a pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, cutting off a line of speculation that had lingered in crypto circles as 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, where he also fielded questions about clemency for other high-profile names, including Sean “Diddy” Combs.
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried in Nov. 2023 on fraud and conspiracy counts tied to the misuse of billions in customer funds. A judge sentenced him in March 2024 to 25 years in prison, and he has appealed both the conviction and sentence.
The pardon talk never fully went away. Bloomberg reported in Jan. 2025 that Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, began exploring clemency outreach through meetings with lawyers and people connected to Trump’s orbit.
From Silk Road To Binance, Trump Has Shown Willingness To Pardon Crypto Figures
Trump’s blunt answer stands out because he has shown a willingness to use clemency in crypto-linked cases. He pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht in Jan. 2025, a decision celebrated by parts of the libertarian and Bitcoin community.
He followed with pardons for the BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, along with others tied to the exchange, after their Bank Secrecy Act related convictions.
Trump later pardoned Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao on Oct. 23, drawing criticism given Binance’s high profile enforcement history.
When asked about Zhao’s pardon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly said the president “exercised his constitutional authority,” saying that Zhao “was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.”
Investor Anger Over FTX Collapse Leaves Little Room For Mercy
Bankman-Fried’s case sits in a different category for many investors, one defined less by regulatory combat and more by a collapse that scorched customers and funds across the industry.
In the same interview, Trump defended his broader embrace of digital assets in political and strategic terms. “I got a lot of votes because I backed crypto, and I got to like it,” Trump said in the interview. “China wanted it, and one of us was going to get it.”
For Bankman-Fried, that leaves the courts as the only realistic route. His appeal continues, and Trump’s latest remarks signal that any clemency campaign around the former FTX chief will run into a closed door at the White House.
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