Despite former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s near-daily posting on X in recent weeks, his efforts to seemingly sway President Donald Trump into giving him a pardon do not appear to be happening anytime soon.
Bankman‑Fried has taken to the platform almost every day, airing grievances about the judge who oversaw his case and insisting that “FTX was always solvent.” He has also increasingly posted messages expressing support for Trump, criticizing Democrats, and praising Trump’s economic policies, seemingly in hopes of currying political favor. Bankman-Fried has not directly asked for a pardon.
Fortune reported earlier Tuesday that Trump has no plan to pardon Bankman-Fried. In an emailed statement to The Block, a White House official reiterated that and pointed to Trump’s past comments in a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times in January.
Trump told the NYT that he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried, ousted Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, or former Sen. Robert Menendez. The official did not comment further on whether Trump’s plans could change and if a pardon for Bankman-Fried was completely off the table.
Since Trump became president, he has pardoned some high-profile people connected to the crypto industry, including former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and the operator of the darknet market Silk Road Ross Ulbricht. However, Bankman-Fried’s pardon chances seem slim. He was one of the largest donors to the Biden campaign in 2020, donating $5.2 million to defeat Trump at the time.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 during the Biden administration on multiple fraud and conspiracy charges for misappropriating billions of customers’ funds from his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, FTX. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried orchestrated “likely the largest fraud in the last decade,” making comparisons to Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff.
He is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence and is in the process of trying to appeal the conviction. The appeal has not yet been taken up.
Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried’s mother filed a “pro se motion for a new trial” on behalf of her son.
Bankman‑Fried’s most recent post on X was on Monday, when he reshared a Trump Truth Social post about the Olympics alongside an image depicting his face on a bird holding guns.
© 2026 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
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