Trump Shuts Door on Sam Bankman-Fried Pardon, White House Confirms
The White House has affirmed that President Donald Trump will not pardon FTX founder Sam Bankman, Fried, thereby rejecting the speculation that the convicted executive might get a presidential pardon. This comes while Bankman, Fried carries on with appeals after he was found guilty of fraud and conspiracy in 2024.
White House insiders reveal that Trumps stance is consistent with his previous moves, i.e. pardoning a few other key players in the digital asset sector such as Changpeng Zhao and Arthur Hayes. Earlier, in an interview, Trump had mentioned that a clemency for Bankman, Fried was not on the table and now the administration has restated that position.
Bankman, Fried, while serving his sentence at a federal prison, was said to have made an attempt to reshape his political image by backing conservative agendas and blaming the judiciary. His change was an absolute turnaround of his previous political engagement when he had donated $5.2 million to Joe Biden in the 2020 election cycle. Nevertheless, the White House has basically made a strong signal that it is their final decision not to grant him any type of clemency and they will not be revisiting the issue.
In March 2024, Bankman, Fried was convicted of various counts of fraud and conspiracy to defraud customer funds at FTX. The exchange was at one point valued at $32 billion but had to file for bankruptcy in November 2022 following the revelation of financial mismanagement. The fallout not only caused the disappearance of billions of customer assets but also seriously damaged the trust in centralized crypto platforms.
The case led to increased regulatory attention over the digital asset industry and has been used as a reason for more stringent oversight. Now that clemency has been ruled out, Bankman, Frieds legal fate will hang on the result of his latest appeals.
#FTX $BNB