FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Formally Applies for Pardon

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has formally applied for a pardon from President Donald Trump, according to the Department of Justice.

On the Office of the Pardon Attorney website, Bankman-Fried sought a “pardon after completion of sentence,” and the status remains “pending.”

The former billionaire crypto investor received a 25‑year federal prison sentence after being found guilty of securities and wire fraud, as well as multiple conspiracy charges.

Prosecutors argued that he misappropriated billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits and routed the funds to Alameda Research, the hedge fund he controlled. The court also determined that FTX clients lost $8 billion, FTX’s equity investors lost almost $2 billion, and lenders to Alameda Research lost $1.3 billion.

FTT—the token linked to FTX—surged by more than 50 percent following the news, trading at about 36 cents.

In a June 8 interview with Fox Business, Bankman-Fried said that he “absolutely” wants a presidential pardon.

“It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me,” he said.

He did not confirm whether he or anyone had contacted the administration regarding a pardon.

Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried commended the Trump administration for TrumpRx, writing that the pharmaceutical industry “gouges Americans” on prescription drugs.

“It’s a huge step in the right direction; now insurance companies need to get on board so that Americans don’t have to choose between fair prices and insurance coverage,” the X post reads.

The president told The New York Times in January that he does not intend to pardon Bankman-Fried.

The Epoch Times reached out to the White House for comment.

Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, founder and former CEO of crypto exchange Binance, in October 2025. He was sentenced to four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to violating money laundering laws.

‘I Didn’t Steal User Funds’

Bankman-Fried said his prosecution was unjust, noting that bankruptcy payouts have surged due to the recovery in crypto markets since his highly publicized trial.

“I didn’t steal user funds either,” he told the business news network. “Customers have been repaid now 170 percent or so on their deposits. It’s one of the very few cases where the platform was over-collateralized, where customers were more than made whole.”

Cryptocurrencies have been battered since last fall.

The price of bitcoin—the largest virtual currency that accounts for more than half of the industry’s market cap—is down by about 17 percent this year.

Sentiment worsened this past week when Strategy, the tech firm formerly known as MicroStrategy, founded by bitcoin bull Michael Saylor, sold a small amount of its holdings. This triggered widespread liquidations across the retail sector, sending bitcoin prices as low as $60,000—the lowest level since October 2024.

“MicroStrategy’s Bitcoin sales were the last nail in the coffin,” Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank, said in a note emailed to The Epoch Times.

“The company didn’t choose to sell its Bitcoin holdings, but was forced to, to pay back the extra-high dividend of its ‘preferred shares’. It could’ve sold new stock, but alas, the company’s value has been dropping along with Bitcoin’s.”

Data from CoinGlass suggest that almost $600 million in total liquidations were recorded in the past 24 hours.

Bitcoin rebounded at the start of the trading week, joining the relief rally in broader financial markets. Bitcoin rose by more than 4 percent to $64,000.