Convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried seeking Trump pardon

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is seeking a pardon from former US President Donald Trump. Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted of fraud and conspiracy charges.

The website for the Department of Justice's Office of the Pardon Attorney indicates that Bankman-Fried has submitted a pardon request, and its status is listed as "pending." This move comes despite Trump having previously stated in an interview with The New York Times in January that he had no plans to issue a pardon to the 34-year-old former crypto mogul.

Bankman-Fried's meteoric rise saw him become a billionaire before age 30, transforming FTX from a small 2019 startup into the world's second-largest crypto exchange. However, his downfall was swift in November 2022, following a massive wave of customer withdrawals and revelations of billions of dollars being moved from FTX to his personal hedge fund, Alameda Research. He was convicted on seven counts, including fraud and embezzlement, by a federal jury in November 2023 and has appealed his conviction.