{"id":883567,"date":"2026-01-09T05:14:46","date_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:14:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/09\/president-trump-says-no-pardon-for-sam-bankman-fried\/"},"modified":"2026-01-09T05:14:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-09T11:14:46","slug":"president-trump-says-no-pardon-for-sam-bankman-fried","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/09\/president-trump-says-no-pardon-for-sam-bankman-fried\/","title":{"rendered":"President Trump Says No Pardon For Sam Bankman-Fried"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Crypto Reporter<\/p>\n

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Shalini Nagarajan<\/p>\n

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Crypto Reporter<\/p>\n

Shalini Nagarajan<\/span>\"Verified\"<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Part of the Team Since<\/p>\n

Jan 2024<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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About Author<\/p>\n

Shalini is a crypto reporter who provides in-depth reports on daily developments and regulatory shifts in the cryptocurrency sector.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

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Last updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Bankman-Fried\"<\/p>\n

President Donald Trump has ruled out a pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, cutting off a line of speculation that had lingered in crypto circles as the jailed FTX founder fights his conviction and searches for any political escape hatch.<\/p>\n

Trump delivered the message in a sweeping interview with The New York Times<\/a>, where he also fielded questions about clemency for other high-profile names, including Sean \u201cDiddy\u201d Combs.<\/p>\n

A jury convicted Bankman-Fried in Nov. 2023 on fraud and conspiracy counts tied to the misuse of billions in customer funds. A judge sentenced him in March 2024 to 25 years in prison<\/a>, and he has appealed both the conviction and sentence<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The pardon talk never fully went away. Bloomberg reported in Jan. 2025 that Bankman-Fried\u2019s parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, began exploring clemency outreach through meetings with lawyers and people connected to Trump\u2019s orbit.<\/p>\n

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President Donald Trump told The New York Times that he has no plans to pardon former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023 on fraud and conspiracy charges and is currently appealing the conviction. He donated $5.2 million to the Biden\u2026<\/p>\n

\u2014 Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) January 8, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

From Silk Road To Binance, Trump Has Shown Willingness To Pardon Crypto Figures<\/span><\/h2>\n

Trump\u2019s blunt answer stands out because he has shown a willingness to use clemency in crypto-linked cases. He pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht<\/a> in Jan. 2025, a decision celebrated by parts of the libertarian and Bitcoin community.<\/p>\n

He followed with pardons for the BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, along with others tied to the exchange, after their Bank Secrecy Act related convictions.<\/p>\n

Trump later pardoned Binance founder Changpeng \u201cCZ\u201d Zhao<\/a> on Oct. 23, drawing criticism given Binance\u2019s high profile enforcement history. <\/p>\n

When asked about Zhao\u2019s pardon, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt reportedly said the president \u201cexercised his constitutional authority,\u201d saying that Zhao \u201cwas prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency.\u201d<\/p>\n

Investor Anger Over FTX Collapse Leaves Little Room For Mercy<\/span><\/h2>\n

Bankman-Fried\u2019s case sits in a different category for many investors, one defined less by regulatory combat and more by a collapse that scorched customers and funds across the industry. <\/p>\n

In the same interview, Trump defended his broader embrace of digital assets in political and strategic terms. \u201cI got a lot of votes because I backed crypto, and I got to like it,\u201d Trump said in the interview. \u201cChina wanted it, and one of us was going to get it.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Bankman-Fried, that leaves the courts as the only realistic route. His appeal continues, and Trump\u2019s latest remarks signal that any clemency campaign around the former FTX chief will run into a closed door at the White House.<\/p>\n

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\n Rebecka Geddes<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Crypto Reporter Shalini Nagarajan Crypto Reporter Shalini Nagarajan Part of the Team Since Jan 2024 About Author Shalini is a crypto reporter who provides in-depth reports on daily developments and regulatory shifts in the cryptocurrency sector. Last updated:\u00a0 January 9, 2026 President Donald Trump has ruled out a pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, cutting off a<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":883568,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[851,4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-883567","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-president","8":"category-trump"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883567","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=883567"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/883567\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/883568"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=883567"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=883567"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=883567"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}