President Donald Trump has definitively quashed any lingering hopes for a presidential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. In a wide-ranging interview with The New York Times published Thursday, the President made it clear that the 33-year-old former mogul, currently serving a 25-year federal sentence, would find no relief from the Oval Office.
The denial comes as a decisive blow to Bankman-Fried’s legal team and family, who had reportedly been quietly lobbying for clemency by framing his conviction as a byproduct of political persecution. Trump lumped the former crypto darling in with other controversial figures he refused to consider for pardons, including music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs and former Senator Robert Menendez.
“I Got a Lot of Votes”
Trump’s refusal to intervene in the FTX case marks a sharp boundary in his otherwise pro-crypto agenda. While he has positioned himself as the “Crypto President”—a stance that helped secure his re-election in 2024—he drew a clear line between regulatory martyrs and those convicted of defrauding customers.
“I got a lot of votes because I backed crypto, and I got to like it,” Trump told the Times, dismissing the idea that his support for the industry obligated him to protect its worst actors. Following the interview, betting markets reacted instantly. Polymarket has seen a significant drop in the likelihood of receiving a pardon from the disgraced financier Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) prior to 2027, with the percentage dropping from 20% earlier this week, down to just 6% today. Based on these odds, traders believe that SBF will remain in prison through the end of the decade.
Defending the Family Portfolio
The interview also saw the President fiercely defend his family’s deepening financial ties to the sector. Trump has refuted suggestions that there is a potential conflict of interest between his policies when it comes to supporting crypto and his personal involvement in a number of significant digital asset companies. Among his family assets is “American Bitcoin”, which operates as a mining company, and “World Liberty Financial”, a DeFi (Decentralized Finance) business behind the USD1 stablecoin. He also has ownership interests in the memecoin “Official Trump” ($TRUMP), which had a value of $5.41 during this interview. While detractors claim the policies created would only benefit the First Family through direct monetization of the industry, many have pointed out how entities associated with the Trumps reportedly receive 75% of the net income and revenue generated through token sales made by World Liberty Financial. Trump represents his involvement in crypto as an extension of his leadership responsibility, emphasizing there are two sides of the same coin when it comes to his success in business and his support for him in election season.
A Tale of Two Crypto Icons
Trump’s willingness to utilize his powers of clemency towards others in the similar industry shows how opposite the way he treated his predecessor, as compared with how he treated SBF. In 2025 after his inauguration, upon fulfilling a campaign promise, he granted a pardon to Ross Ulbricht (the operator of the Silk Road narcotics website), which was met with great enthusiasm among libertarians.
Months later, in October, he issued a pardon for Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, the former CEO of Binance. Zhao had served four months for anti-money laundering violations—a sentence Trump characterized as regulatory overreach. The disparity suggests a specific doctrine: while the administration is willing to forgive crimes viewed as “victimless” or regulatory in nature, it has no patience for theft that leaves retail investors holding the bag.
SBF’s Dwindling Options
With the political route now closed, Bankman-Fried’s future rests entirely with the appellate courts. His legal team reiterated their argument of an unfair trial to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in November of 2025, arguing that the trial was unfair because of restrictive rulings on the admissibility of evidence made at trial.
As of Thursday, the court has yet to issue a decision. Legal experts warn that overturning a conviction of this magnitude is a statistical long shot. If the Second Circuit denies his appeal, Bankman-Fried’s only remaining recourse would be a petition to the Supreme Court—a process that could take years with no guarantee of success. Barring a judicial miracle, he is not scheduled for release until 2044.
One Walks, One Rots
The divergence in fates is perhaps most painful when compared to SBF’s former lieutenant and ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison. While Bankman-Fried faces decades behind bars, Ellison is preparing for imminent freedom.
According to Federal Bureau of Prisons records, the former Alameda Research CEO is scheduled to be released on January 21, 2026. After testifying as the government’s star witness against Bankman-Fried, she received a significantly lighter sentence of two years. She was transferred in October from a federal prison in Connecticut to a Residential Reentry Management field office in New York City to complete her transition. In less than two weeks, she will be a free woman, while her former partner remains the primary cautionary tale of the crypto age.
