FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried is pursuing a presidential pardon from Donald Trump through a series of programs designed to garner public sympathy and wash his image.
Insiders claim the former crypto billionaire is angling for a pardon; however, they believe his chances are near Zero.
Sam Bankman-Fried, facing 25 years in prison for fraud charges following the collapse of FTX, recently appeared in an unauthorized interview with Tucker Carlson.
SBF was reportedly sent to solitary confinement after the Tucker Carlson Interview, which authorities said was unauthorized.
In the Interview, the incarcerated crypto founder made some revelations, including his political donations to both parties and how bankruptcy handlers siphoned billions of dollars from the collapsing FTX exchange.
The crypto founder also discussed personal issues, such as life in prison and his relationship with Sean Diddy Combs, another high-profile inmate.
The interview did not mention a presidential pardon, although the handwriting on the wall was clear for everyone to see.
The Next Ross Ulbritch?
The Donald Trump administration has already made a series of high-profile pardons, including one for the crypto industry.
The Trump administration pardoned Ross Ulbritch, the founder of “Silk Road”, fulfilling his campaign promise to the crypto community.
Ross Ulbricht founded Silk Road, an online marketplace that operated on the dark web from 2011 until it was shut down by law enforcement in 2013.
The platform facilitated anonymous transactions, primarily for illegal goods like drugs, using Bitcoin as the currency.
Ulbricht was pardoned by President Donald Trump on January 21, 2025, fulfilling a promise made during his 2024 campaign.
Trump announced the decision on Truth Social, stating he had called Ulbricht’s mother to inform her and framing the pardon as a gesture to the Libertarian Movement, which had strongly supported both Ulbricht’s release and Trump’s candidacy.
The Ross Ulbritch pardon might have inspired SBF to push for his pardon and put together a string of programs to that effect.
The key challenge to this approach is the difference in public perception between the two individuals.
Ross Ulbritch is seen as a champion of decentralization whose platform provided one of the very first use cases for Bitcoin.
Conversely, SBF is seen as a fraud who misappropriated FTX customer funds and caused a crypto winter.
The negative image remains his most significant obstacle to a presidential pardon, hence his new drive for interviews.
It remains to be seen whether his antics will pay off and get him a pardon,
After his prison sentence, SBF would be in his late fifties when his current sentence would be over.
