Trump Shuts Down FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Pardon Bid Despite Intense Lobbying

Another crypto mogul finds the political escape hatch slammed shut.

The Presidential Cold Shoulder

Lobbyists worked the phones, allies made their pitches, but the answer came back clear. The former president has reportedly dismissed any consideration of a pardon for the fallen FTX founder. No backroom deal, no last-minute reprieve—just a flat rejection that echoes through Washington corridors and trading desks alike.

Power Plays and Prison Time

This wasn't just about one man's fate. The decision signals how political capital gets spent—or rather, hoarded—when crypto scandals collide with election cycles. Billion-dollar collapses make convenient villains, and pardoning them rarely wins votes, even with all that lobbying firepower. A classic case of calculated political arithmetic winning over well-funded persuasion.

The New Rules of the Game

For the industry, the message cuts deep: regulatory scrutiny was just the first act. Now comes the political reckoning. When your poster child faces decades behind bars, even the most connected fixers can't guarantee a get-out-of-jail-free card. It reshapes the risk calculus for every founder building in this space.

The system works exactly as designed—it protects itself first, investors second, and fallen kings not at all. Another reminder that in high finance, whether traditional or digital, the only 'too big to fail' entities are usually the banks themselves.

No Clemency For FTX Co-Founder

When questioned about the possibility of issuing presidential pardons for individuals such as Sean Combs, Nicolas Maduro, and Bankman-Fried, Trump made it clear that he had no intentions of granting clemency to these individuals. 

This news comes as the former crypto mogul continues to seek relief from his 25-year sentence for one of the largest financial frauds in modern history.

Bankman-Fried’s parents are reportedly working behind the scenes to lobby for a reduction in their son’s sentence. Despite these efforts, the extensive fallout from FTX’s collapse appears to have swayed Trump’s thinking against issuing a pardon.

In November 2023, Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven criminal counts, including fraud and conspiracy, resulting in a 25-year prison sentence and a mandate to repay $11 billion to FTX customers. 

His legal team stated back in November 2025 that their client had been “unfairly convicted,” claiming he was denied a fair opportunity to defend himself amid intense media scrutiny and prosecutorial pressure. 

“Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent,” they argued in their appeal. “He was presumed guilty—before he was even charged.”

 Bankman-Fried Pursues Legal Remedies

The situation drew further comparisons to Zhao’s case when, on October 23, the WHITE House announced Trump had pardoned the Binance co-founder, who had previously pleaded guilty to charges two years earlier. 

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked that the President was exercising his constitutional authority in pardoning Zhao, who faced prosecution by the Biden Administration amidst its regulatory actions against cryptocurrency.

However, the circumstances surrounding FTX’s dramatic collapse suggest that a pardon for the former FTX CEO is unlikely at this time. As it stands, Bankman-Fried remains focused on his legal options.

Featured image from DALL-E, chart from TradingView.com