Sam Bankman-Fried, the one-time cryptocurrency billionaire now serving a 25-year prison sentence for fraud, filed an application for a presidential pardon on Monday, according to online records of the Department of Justice. The application, submitted to the Office of the Pardon Attorney, requests a “pardon after completion of sentence” – meaning that if granted, his conviction would be forgiven under law only after he serves his full term. He has not asked for a commutation, which would shorten his sentence.
Bankman-Fried, 34, was convicted two years ago of multiple federal charges stemming from the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange he founded, and its sister trading firm Alameda Research. FTX imploded in 2022 amid allegations that Bankman-Fried used customer deposits as his own money, making personal investments and paying off debts. He has long maintained his innocence and is currently appealing against his sentence.
“Sam Bankman-Fried, serving 25 years for fraud, applied for a presidential pardon after completion of sentence.”
The White House declined to comment on the pardon application. A lawyer for Bankman-Fried did not reply to a request for comment. His request is one of more than 20,000 petitions for clemency currently pending before the pardon office.
President Donald Trump, now in his second term, has issued a flurry of pardons, including for hundreds of people involved in the 6 January 2021 attack on the US Capitol, former members of his staff convicted of crimes, the founder of a dark-web marketplace, and even the chief executive of another crypto platform, Binance. But when asked earlier this year about a potential pardon for Bankman-Fried, Trump indicated he would not.