Disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried has applied to expunge his ongoing prison sentence from his permanent record.
The request was made by Bankman-Fried to the Department of Justice Office of the Pardon Attorney, according to its database. The California native was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison in 2024 for defrauding investors of more than $1.7 billion during his leadership of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the trading firm Alameda Research, both of which he co-founded.
President Donald Trump has sole authority to grant pardon requests. In January, the New York Times presented Trump with a number of hypothetical clemency cases, including Bankman-Fried’s. The president suggested at the time that he had no intention of pardoning the FTX founder.
Fox Business asked Bankman-Fried whether he would be interested in a pardon in an interview that aired this week.
“Absolutely,” he responded over the phone from prison. “It would be, obviously, you know, ultimately up to the president, not up to me.”
Bankman-Fried would not answer whether his parents or anyone else in his orbit has been in contact with the White House. Anyone can request a presidential pardon, and an open case does not suggest that the application will be approved.
Bankman-Fried is currently incarcerated at Federal Correctional Institution, Lompoc I, a low-security facility in central California. His current release date is June 17, 2044, according to the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Trump pardoned cryptocurrency billionaire Changpeng Zhao, who had served almost a year in prison for money laundering charges, in 2025. The Chinese-born Canadian founded the exchange Binance, one of FTX’s major competitors. Zhao’s firm has also supported the Trump family’s cryptocurrency venture, World Liberty Financial.
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“President Trump exercised his constitutional authority by issuing a pardon for Mr. Zhao, who was prosecuted by the Biden Administration in their war on cryptocurrency,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at the time. “In their desire to punish the cryptocurrency industry, the Biden Administration pursued Mr. Zhao despite no allegations of fraud or identifiable victims.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Department of Justice for comment on Bankman-Fried’s case.
