Sam Bankman-Fried formally requests Trump pardon after months of public lobbying from prison

Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a formal clemency application with the White House via the Justice Department’s Pardon Attorney’s Office.

This caps months of public overtures toward President Donald Trump from his federal prison cell. 

The request faces long odds as Trump said in January he would not pardon the convicted FTX founder, and the White House reiterated on Sunday that it has no plans to grant one.

From tweets to formal petition

The formal application comes after a sustained, visible campaign by Bankman-Fried to curry favor with the Trump administration.

The former crypto executive has used posts on X to praise the president’s economic agenda, commend his approach to deregulation, and encourage offshore crypto firms to return to the United States, according to Cryptopolitan’s earlier reporting.

When asked in a prison phone interview with FOX Business correspondent Susan Li whether he wanted a pardon, Bankman-Fried replied without hesitation, “Absolutely,” adding, “It would be obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me.” 

He refused to say whether his parents or anyone else was lobbying the administration on his behalf, telling Li that he can’t speak for them.

Li noted on X that the White House “has said they have no intentions of granting him one.”

What is SBF saying about the charges that led to his conviction?

Throughout the interview, Bankman-Fried maintained the position he has held since his arrest, which is that he did not commit fraud.

“I didn’t steal user funds either,” he told Li. 

Pointing to the FTX bankruptcy estate’s payouts, he claimed that customers have received roughly 170% of their deposits back and called it “a great disservice to them that it has taken three years.”

However, the federal jury that convicted Bankman-Fried on seven felony counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy in November 2023, saw it differently. 

Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in March 2024. According to court findings, FTX customers lost $8 billion, equity investors lost $1.7 billion, and lenders to Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research lost $1.3 billion.

Trump pardoned CZ and Ulbricht, not SBF

President Trump has pardoned a few crypto executives since resuming office in 2025. Notable names are Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was pardoned in January 2025, and former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao in October 2025. 

Trump told The New York Times in January that he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried, grouping him with music producer Sean Combs and former Senator Robert Menendez as people who would not receive clemency.

What legal appeals are still in play?

Bankman-Fried is not exploring the pardon route as the only avenue in securing his freedom.

His legal team appeared before the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in November 2025, seeking to overturn the conviction. If the appeals court upholds the conviction, he could petition the Supreme Court for review.

In April, Bankman-Fried withdrew a separate motion for a new trial, writing to Judge Kaplan that he might refile after his direct appeal concludes and the case is reassigned.

Prediction markets skeptical

Bettors on the prediction market platform, Polymarket, price the chance of Bankman-Fried leaving custody by the end of 2026 at 6%, with roughly $383,000 in volume on the contract.

Presidential pardons are rare, discretionary, and typically involve a lengthy Justice Department review process.

The Second Circuit’s ruling on Bankman-Fried’s appeal could land at any time. A favorable decision would reshape his legal position far more than a pardon request the White House has already signaled it will reject.

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