The parents of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) are exploring avenues to secure a presidential pardon for their son from Donald Trump, according to Bloomberg.
A source told the publication that Stanford professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried have recently met with lawyers and individuals allegedly close to Trump’s team to assess the prospects of submitting a pardon request. Whether the couple has managed to reach the White House directly remains unknown.
FTX collapsed in November 2022 when it was unable to process withdrawal requests. A criminal investigation revealed fraud, embezzlement, and misappropriation of client funds by the platform’s management.
In November 2023, a jury found SBF guilty on all seven charges. In March 2024, the Southern District of New York court sentenced the entrepreneur to 25 years in prison. He immediately filed an appeal.
In the early days of his return to the White House, Trump pardoned Silk Road darknet market founder Ross Ulbricht. The president’s fulfillment of one of his campaign promises sparked excitement among convicted “white-collar” criminals.
Inmates can submit pardon requests through a special office of the Department of Justice. However, during his first term, Trump made decisions based on “less formal appeals.”
Jeffrey Grant, managing partner of a law firm, confirmed that those seeking sentence reductions are looking for contacts in the White House. Sam Mangel, who previously worked on pardons for Trump’s former associates Steve Bannon and Peter Navarro, told Bloomberg he received “certain instructions” from the president’s circle.
“I was told not to touch any sex crimes, cases with actual violence, and illegal immigration cases,” he noted.
Ulbricht’s pardon was actively pursued by the crypto community and the libertarian movement. SBF lacks such support. On the contrary, many consider his sentence too lenient. Moreover, the FTX co-founder was one of the largest donors to Trump’s opponent in the last presidential election—Joe Biden.
According to Bloomberg, SBF might benefit from a “general sense of injustice.” Judge Lewis Kaplan, who sentenced Bankman-Fried, also presided over the case of writer Elizabeth Jean Carroll against Trump on defamation charges. In both instances, the defendants claimed bias against them.
Additionally, Trump, previously known as a skeptic of digital assets, entered his second term as a “crypto president.”
Since January 2025, FTX bankruptcy administrators began payments to creditors. According to the plan, 98% of the exchange’s users will receive at least 118% of their claims, but in fiat equivalent at the exchange rate at the time of the bankruptcy filing.