Donald Trump

President Donald Trump

<p>A spokesperson from the White House has confirmed that U.S. President Donald Trump will offer no clemency to Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder and former CEO of the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange.</p><p>The spokesperson <a href="https://fortune.com/2026/02/24/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-trump-pardon-binance-cz-crypto-tucker-carlson/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">added</a> that Trump is the sole decider on a mercy release, and he is firmly rooted in granting no pardon to SBF.</p><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bankman-fried-attempts-at-absolution-following-ftx-collapse">Bankman-Fried attempts at absolution following FTX collapse</h2><p>In March 2024, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison after being found guilty of all seven counts of money laundering, conspiracy, and fraud.&nbsp;</p><p>In his defense, SBF argued that he and FTX had been strategically targeted by the Biden administration because of his multi-million-dollar pro-Republican donations. His parents (both professors and legal scholars at Stanford Law School) have tried to secure a presidential pardon for their son to no avail.</p><p>A week ago, SBF claimed that FTX’s collapse was <a href="https://coinpedia.org/crypto-live-news/sam-bankman-fried-says-ftx-was-solvent-at-collapse/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">manufactured</a> by lawyers and his successor, John J. Ray III, who allegedly profited from the exchange’s bankruptcy filings. He also pinpointed the FTX $7.1 billion payback of its investors as a show of goodwill.</p><figure class="wp-block-image size-full"><img width="604" height="618" src="https://image.coinpedia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/25011637/ftx.webp" alt="Sam Bankman-Fried says FTX is repaying customers 119-143%" class="wp-image-546825"></figure><p>Source: <a href="https://x.com/SBF_FTX/status/2024839396185219101" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">X</a></p><p>More recently, Bankman-Fried took to X in a long-shot show of Republican pivot, with hopes of swaying Trump’s resolve. He described the recent tariff policies as “right on crypto” and Trump’s capture and extradition of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro as “smart, gutsy, and pro-democracy.” SBF further noted the “political bias” nature of Judge Lewis Kaplan, the man who sentenced him and has been a key player in civil cases against Trump.</p><figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p>Clinton-appointed judge Lewis Kaplan made his political bias very clear when sentencing me and <a href="https://twitter.com/rsalame7926?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@rsalame7926</a>.<br><br>Kaplan ranted about how I “set up a vehicle for making political donations to the right.”<br><br>“The state of our political life in this country is in jeopardy,” he said, and…</p>— SBF (@SBF_FTX) <a href="https://twitter.com/SBF_FTX/status/2024108816770490686?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">February 18, 2026</a></blockquote></div></figure><h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-what-next-for-sbf">What next for SBF?</h2><p>Bankman-Fried remains incarcerated at the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) in Brooklyn, New York. The 33-year-old man has run into rotten luck with <a href="https://coinpedia.org/news/donald-trump-says-no-pardon-for-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">yet another denial</a> of a presidential pardon and a much heavier sentence compared to his associates.&nbsp;</p><p>Supporters say SBF should receive a similar pardon to crypto players like Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes. Trump, however, stands his ground, saying the man committed financial fraud worth $8 billion. Bankman-Fried’s last resort is an appeal to the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.</p>

White House: Trump Will Not Pardon Sam Bankman-Fried Despite Ongoing Clemency Campaign

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