Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks Trump Pardon, Cites Biden's Influence and Legal Bias

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the once-thriving cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has made a surprising political move by seeking a pardon from former President Donald Trump. In a recent interview with The New York Sun, Bankman-Fried criticized the Biden administration's influence on the legal system and suggested that Trump might be his best chance at freedom.

Bankman-Fried, who was once the second-largest donor to the Biden campaign, now distances himself from the Democratic Party. He described the Biden administration as "difficult to work with" and praised the Republican Party as being more reasonable. He highlighted a key fact that, before Trump returned to the White House in 2024, he faced serious legal troubles over secret government documents and his alleged attempts to change the 2020 election results. Bankman-Fried pointed out that the judge in his trial, Lewis Kaplan, was the same one who ruled against Trump in a case where a woman accused him of assault and defamation. He suggested that just like Trump, he felt unfairly treated by the judge.

Bankman-Fried argued that his downfall was not due to fraud but was instead a case of "prosecutorial overreach." He maintained that FTX was solvent but lacked liquidity when it collapsed in 2022, blaming law firm Sullivan & Cromwell for mismanaging the bankruptcy. As FTX finally starts repaying customers, he pointed out that they're being reimbursed based on 2022 crash prices, not today's much higher values—another reason he claims the system is flawed.

Beyond his case, Bankman-Fried is not the only crypto figure hoping for a Trump pardon. Supporters are pushing for clemency for Roger "Bitcoin Jesus" Ver and Ethereum researcher Virgil Griffith, who was convicted for discussing crypto in North Korea. Despite everything, Bankman-Fried insists money is not his biggest concern. But with Trump previously pardoning Ross Ulbricht early in his term, the disgraced FTX founder is hoping history repeats itself—this time, in his favor. If Trump pardons Bankman-Fried, it wouldn’t be his first favor to a crypto convict. Whether Trump will listen remains to be seen.