Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried has formally requested a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. With this, he is intensifying his efforts to undo the fallout from the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange in 2022.
SBF seeks Trump’s pardon over FTX collapse
The clemency application was submitted through the Office of the Pardon Attorney of the U.S. Department of Justice. Currently, Bankman-Fried is still serving a 25-year prison sentence. The ruling comes due to a scheme to defraud consumers and investors of millions of dollars, according to the federal government.
For context, in November 2023, SBF was found guilty of seven felony counts. These charges include fraud, conspiracy and money laundering for his involvement in the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research. Prosecutors said Alameda embezzled client funds to pay for trading losses, political contributions and venture investments.
In March 2024, the former cryptocurrency billionaire received her ruling from Judge Lewis Kaplan, as well as the forfeiture of more than $11 billion. The case relates to the loss of more than $8 billion in customer funds, which was lost due to FTX’s bankruptcy petition in November 2022, authorities said.
Since his conviction, Bankman-Fried has been attacking the government’s rhetoric. He made this statement publicly.
Furthermore, in interviews, he attributes FTX’s liquidity issues to more than just theft. Therefore, he also indicated that the criminal prosecution was politically motivated. He was also called Judge Kaplan’s alleged bias In this case.
The pardon is being offered after months of outreach by those close to the former FTX boss Fox Business. His parents, Stanford University professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Freed, were looking for ways to get leniency for lawyers on the fringes of Trump’s network.
What are the odds of SBF getting a presidential pardon?
But the chances of reviving the political prospects of the amnesty are slim. Trump has announced it publicly He does not plan to pardon Bankman-Fried, although he has done so along with other high-profile individuals associated with the digital assets space. He previously granted a presidential pardon to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht and even Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” ZhaoWho left prison for only four months.
Republican lawmakers who had been supportive of cryptocurrencies also distanced themselves from the disgraced FTX CEO. This is because the losses that occurred with the collapse of the stock market with clients and investors are enormous.
Prediction markets reflect this sentiment. For this reason, traders on Polymarket pegged only a 7% chance of Trump pardoning Bankman-Fried in 2026.
Meanwhile, ownership of FTX’s bankruptcy continued Distributing funds to creditors. To date, billions have been returned to affected users through court-settled payment plans.
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