Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, formally submitted a clemency application to the Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney on June 8, requesting a pardon after completion of sentence [1]. In a Fox Business interview, Bankman-Fried confirmed he "absolutely" wants a pardon [1][2]. The White House responded the same day, reiterating that President Trump has no intention of granting the request [1].
Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year federal prison sentence imposed following his November 2023 conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the implosion of FTX and its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research [1]. Federal prosecutors demonstrated that he had misappropriated billions of dollars in customer funds. His sentencing, handed down in March 2024, drew significant attention given the scale of losses sustained by FTX customers and creditors. A clemency application of the type he filed, a pardon after completion of sentence, is a formal DOJ mechanism that initiates the executive review process but carries no legal obligation for the president to act [2].
The White House position is consistent with a statement Trump made in January 2026 indicating he would not pardon Bankman-Fried [1]. That statement came despite Bankman-Fried's reported political donations to both parties in the period preceding the FTX collapse, a history that had previously fueled public speculation about whether he might seek to leverage political goodwill. The formal filing converts what had been a public lobbying effort into an official administrative record within the pardon process [2].
Bankman-Fried's appeal before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remains pending [1][2]. The appeal presents a parallel track: a successful challenge to his conviction or sentence could render the pardon application moot, while an adverse ruling would sharpen the practical stakes of any clemency decision. No argument date in the Second Circuit has been publicly confirmed. Unless the White House reverses course or the Second Circuit grants relief, Bankman-Fried, now in his early thirties, would not complete his sentence for approximately two decades.