Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks Presidential Pardon

Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of the bankrupt FTX exchange, is moving closer to Trump supporters. Bankman-Fried also revived the drive to achieve a Presidential pardon, although he has not reached out to Trump directly.

Sam Bankman-Fried may be seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. To that end, Bankman-Fried started to build an image of being a Republican supporter, distancing himself from his past as a hardline Democrat.

The entangled history of Bankman-Fried’s political donations may give him favor with both US parties. Data showed he was in charge of as much as $100M in political donations during the height of FTX.

However, the donations toward the Democratic party did not translate into a Presidential pardon at the end of Joe Biden’s mandate. Thus, the FTX founder chose to play the Republican card in pursuit of a Presidential pardon, similar to Andrew Tate’s escape from his confinement.

A new effort is underway, as reported by the NY Times, to build a case for his freedom before President Trump. Bankman-Fried has gathered a group of supporters and consultants, led by his parents, Mr. Bankman and Ms. Fried. The recent communication and PR campaign aim to gain ground despite Bankman-Fried’s previous ties with the Democratic Party.

The group is communicating with Kory Langhofer, an Arizona lawyer who worked on Trump’s 2016 and 2020 campaigns. They are also attempting to engage Washington lobbyists and politically connected businesspeople to argue that FTX did not hurt its clients and could pay back claims. This initiative to attract Trump’s attention has begun, disappointing some in the crypto community.

Without a pardon, Bankman-Fried faces a 25-year prison sentence for fraud involving the company’s clients and lenders.

Crypto Community Responds

The idea of Bankman-Fried possibly walking free is still unappealing to many. The FTX exchange caused personal losses totaling $16B and traumatized the crypto market, leading to prolonged price stagnation.

Influencers in the crypto community noticed a trend in Bankman-Fried’s attempts to alter his political alignment and promote his case as a potential Republican asset. This perspective has made crypto supporters and Trump backers view a pardon as deeply unjust. Bankman-Fried lacks the same sympathetic backstory as figures like Ross Ulbricht or Aleksey Pertsev, who focused on privacy.

For others, however, a Presidential pardon could still be feasible if Bankman-Fried cooperates on innovative crypto uses promoted by former Democratic donors.

Pardon Predictions

Crowd predictions indicate that a pardon for Bankman-Fried is highly unlikely. The prediction platform Polymarket, known for accurately forecasting US election outcomes, places the likelihood of a pardon at 5%. With growing discussions about pardon lobbying, the ‘yes’ token has risen slightly to $0.055. There’s nearly a two-month window for potential changes in this forecast.

The only open market on the issue is a list of possible pardons during Donald Trump’s first 100 days of a second presidential term. Bankman-Fried is among the top expected selections, but demand for ‘yes’ tokens remains low, and there has been little market reaction to the rumors.

A pardon could take beyond 100 days, with limited market ability to predict outcomes accurately. Given Trump’s focus on ongoing wars and trade issues, Bankman-Fried may not be a priority during the early days of a second term.

Following Bankman-Fried’s interview with Tucker Carlson, some speculate that the pardon-seeking process may prolong, with hopes of freedom by year-end. An unpopular pardon for Bankman-Fried would contribute to Trump’s unintended negative impact on the crypto market.