Trump refuses to pardon FTX founder, hopes for early release for SBF and others dashed
Recently, U.S. President Trump stated in an interview with The New York Times that he would not pardon Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the imprisoned founder of FTX. This statement means SBF's previous efforts to seek early pardon have essentially failed, and his 25-year sentence will continue to be served unless intervened by a future president.
In fact, during his tenure, Trump pardoned several prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space, including Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, co-founders of BitMEX, Ross Ulbricht, the founder of Silk Road, and CZ (Changpeng Zhao), former CEO of Binance.
Additionally, Ilya Lichtenstein, who was involved in the Bitfinex hack, was released early under the First Step Act.
However, SBF's pardon request was explicitly rejected. The mastermind behind the fraud that led to the collapse of FTX was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024. In February 2025, his parents submitted a pardon application to Trump, and SBF himself publicly expressed his desire for clemency, but Trump's recent statement has completely closed the door to early release.
Apart from SBF, Trump also stated he would not pardon several other high-profile individuals. These include Sean "Diddy" Combs (the legendary figure in American hip-hop), who is imprisoned on charges related to sex trafficking, Venezuela's President Nicolás Maduro, recently arrested on drug and terrorism-related charges, and former New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez, who was convicted on bribery charges and sentenced to 11 years in prison.
Overall, Trump's series of statements on clemency reflect his cautious stance in criminal justice and political pardons, particularly taking a firm position on financial crimes, corruption, and international cases. This suggests that individuals involved in such cases seeking early release may now have to rely on potential policy changes by future administrations.
#特朗普 #SBF