FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has asserted through a trusted source that his 2022 arrest was a response by Joe Biden’s administration to donations made to the Republican Party.
“I became a centrist and started donating tens of millions of dollars to Republicans. Just weeks later, the SEC under Gary Gensler and Biden’s Justice Department attacked me. I was detained just before a vote on a cryptocurrency bill I was working on, and the night before I was to testify before Congress,” noted SBF.
He recalled that Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives at the time expressed doubts about the timing of the arrest.
Politicians claimed the detention seemed orchestrated to “prevent Bankman-Fried from speaking.” They also demanded Gensler provide internal communications related to the case. However, he “conveniently lost” all messages, the FTX founder emphasized.
Earlier, it was revealed that the loss of communications from the former SEC chairman, spanning October 2022 to September 2023, resulted from an incorrect automation policy implemented by the IT department. It was during this period that the regulator began investigations into several crypto companies, including Coinbase and Binance.
SBF Pardon Efforts
On October 14, conservative activist Laura Loomer spoke of a “massive and well-funded” campaign aimed at persuading U.S. President Donald Trump to pardon Bankman-Fried.
You’re going to start seeing a lot more in the news about Sam Bankman-Fried.
There is a massive and well funded lobby effort to get this criminal pardoned. He’s going to pretend like he was a victim of Joe Biden and the Democrats after he funded all of the Left’s campaigns.… https://t.co/ai2zmWuFu0
— Laura Loomer (@LauraLoomer) October 14, 2025
“A massive lobbying campaign has been launched to pardon this criminal. He will pretend to be a victim of Biden and the Democrats, even though he funded all the leftist campaigns. Don’t fall for it,” she wrote.
Loomer’s tweet sparked lively discussions within the community. However, no evidence supports her claims.
In January, media reported that SBF’s parents were exploring ways to secure his pardon. According to the Wall Street Journal, significant efforts were underway, including strategic memoranda and the involvement of external lawyers. However, journalists found no direct contacts with Trump’s campaign team.
The U.S. Department of Justice did not include the FTX founder in the list of candidates for pardon in 2025.
Participants in the crypto market also rate the chances of Bankman-Fried’s release as low. The probability of this event on Polymarket stands at 3%.
In March 2024, SBF was sentenced to 25 years in prison. The community considered the sentence lenient. Bankman-Fried was found guilty on seven counts of money laundering, fraud, and conspiracy.
In a conversation with journalist Tucker Carlson, the FTX founder stated that he believes the sentence was a mistake. According to him, the collapsed exchange could now have “$100 billion in assets against $15 billion in liabilities” if not for the crash.