Bankman-Fried Bets on Trump Pardon After $10B FTX Fraud

Sam Bankman-Fried’s latest move signals a blunt reality: his fight over FTX has shifted from appellate briefs to President Donald Trump’s pardon power. The convicted FTX founder has sought a presidential pardon, according to American Banker, adding clemency to a long list of attempts to reduce the force of his federal conviction and 25-year sentence.

The request is pending on the Justice Department’s pardon office website. It seeks “Pardon after Completion of Sentence”, not a commutation, which would directly shorten the time Bankman-Fried serves.

Bankman-Fried seeks Trump pardon while his FTX appeal remains alive

The filing gives Bankman-Fried a second track outside the courts, even as his appeal continues. The pardon request adds a political route to the legal routes Bankman-Fried has already pursued, but it does not by itself overturn the verdict or reduce the sentence imposed by the court.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy tied to the collapse of FTX and its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research. Prosecutors said the scheme cost customers, lenders, and investors more than $10 billion.

His legal team is still pursuing review through the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals, where his appeal remains a key path for challenging the conviction or sentence. That process is separate from clemency, which depends on presidential discretion rather than appellate review.

The strongest counterpoint is sitting in the filing itself. A “Pardon after Completion of Sentence” is not the same thing as asking Trump to cut the prison term. Still, the move matters because clemency is not bound by the same logic as an appeal, and Bankman-Fried has now placed his case inside a political process controlled by one person.

Clemency turns the FTX case into a Trump decision, not a jury question

The pardon bid reframes FTX from a courtroom fraud case into a test of Trump’s clemency politics. Bankman-Fried built FTX into one of crypto’s most visible companies, appeared in ads and on magazine covers, and sold himself as a trading prodigy who left Wall Street for bitcoin. Behind that image, prosecutors said he manipulated the finances of FTX and Alameda.

The conviction made him the face of one of crypto’s most damaging fraud cases. The collapse exposed conduct that led to heavy losses for customers, lenders, and investors, while Bankman-Fried has continued to resist the outcome of his prosecution.

A pardon would not erase the financial wreckage left by FTX’s collapse. It would be an act of presidential power over federal criminal liability, not a civil recovery mechanism for people or firms harmed by the exchange’s failure.

“The pardon of one more celebrity white collar criminal would not surprise me.”
, Dan Greenberg, senior legal fellow, Cato Institute

Trump’s use of clemency gives Bankman-Fried a reason to try, even if the request faces obvious political and legal scrutiny. Presidential pardons often turn on considerations that are different from the issues raised in an appeal, which is why the filing changes the venue of the fight as much as the substance of it.

That crypto connection will draw attention, but it should not be overstated. Bankman-Fried’s case is separate from the day-to-day crypto market and product stories XOOMAR tracks, including Coinbase AI Agent Grabs a Wallet and Starts Trading and XRP Defends $1.10 as ETF Inflows Mask Weak Demand. This filing is about punishment, executive discretion, and whether political access can matter after a major fraud conviction.

Richard Painter, a former White House chief ethics lawyer, told American Banker that FTX was “a pretty clear case” and said he would not grant Bankman-Fried a pardon. Painter also said he does not believe that “President Trump, with all due respect, makes decisions about pardons based on their merits.”

Trump’s January no leaves Bankman-Fried with a narrow public path

The biggest obstacle is that Trump has already signaled no. White House representatives directed American Banker to Trump’s January interview with The New York Times, where he said he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried. “I don’t know [Bankman-Fried] at all,” Trump told the Times.

That public posture leaves Bankman-Fried with a narrow path. He can continue to press his case through the courts, maintain the pardon request, and try to reshape public perception, but none of those steps guarantees action from the White House.

Painter dismissed any political repositioning sharply, citing Bankman-Fried and his parents’ extensive donations to the Democratic Party in the 2020 and 2022 elections.

“Now they’re putting on the red hats, and it really looks fake because they’re all so left wing,” Painter said.

The cleanest reading is that Bankman-Fried is preserving every possible route: appellate, procedural, reputational, and now presidential. The fact that the pending request is not a commutation weakens any claim that the filing alone is an immediate bid for release, but his broader campaign points in the same direction: less prison time, less stigma, or both.

The next signals are practical. Watch for a White House statement that goes beyond Trump’s January comment, movement on the DOJ clemency docket, more public lobbying from Bankman-Fried’s side, or a ruling from the Second Circuit. Unless Trump acts, Bankman-Fried remains bound by his sentence while the federal appeals process continues.

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Impact Analysis

• Bankman-Fried is pursuing clemency while his appeal continues, adding a political path alongside the courts.
• The filing seeks a pardon after completion of sentence, not a commutation that would directly shorten his 25-year term.
• The case remains one of the largest crypto fraud prosecutions, with prosecutors citing more than $10 billion in losses.