Sam Bankman-Fried Files Formal Pardon Application With Office of the Pardon Attorney

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has formally applied for a presidential pardon, according to an update on the Office of the Pardon Attorney website. Bankman-Fried, who was convicted on fraud and conspiracy charges in 2024 and sentenced to 25 years in prison, is seeking "pardon after completion of sentence" relief, a category that requires applicants to finish their sentence before any grant. The application was first reported by Bloomberg, and a representative for the Office of the Pardon Attorney confirmed the filing category to Decrypt.

In a phone interview with Fox Business from prison last week, Bankman-Fried said it would be "obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me," and that he would "absolutely" accept a pardon from President Donald Trump. He told Fox Business that he has not personally spoken to anyone at the White House, while noting that he could not speak for his parents or others close to him who may have. The application may take "months or years," according to the listing on the Office of the Pardon Attorney website, and because applications are not made public, additional details about the request are not currently known.

Bankman-Fried maintained his innocence in the interview, saying he "didn't steal user funds either" and noting that customers were ultimately repaid in full through the bankruptcy process. He called it a "great disservice that it has taken three years." He has served a little more than two years of his sentence and is expected to serve at least 21.25 years, according to analysts who spoke to Decrypt at the time of sentencing.

Trump previously ruled out a pardon for Bankman-Fried, but has granted pardons to other prominent crypto figures, including Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, and Binance co-founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao. Bankman-Fried had drawn renewed public attention in February when his X account began championing the Clarity Act, a still-in-the-works crypto market structure bill, prompting Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis to remark that "someone's looking for a pardon" and adding, "we don't need—nor want—your support." Senator Elizabeth Warren separately condemned the outreach, and lawmakers from both parties made clear this week that they did not want his support for the legislation.