TL;DR:
- Senators Lummis and Gallego introduced a resolution urging that Bankman-Fried receive no form of clemency from President Donald Trump.
- The former FTX CEO was convicted in November 2023 on seven counts of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison by a New York court.
- Last week, Bankman-Fried lost his appeal to overturn the conviction, after arguing that the original court had not given him a fair trial.
U.S. Senators Cynthia Lummis, Republican from Wyoming, and Ruben Gallego, Democrat from Arizona, introduced a four-page resolution before the Senate expressing that Samuel Bankman-Fried should receive executive clemency under no circumstances. The bipartisan initiative came to light after the former FTX founder had spent months attempting to obtain a pardon from President Donald Trump, who until now has publicly stated he has no plans to grant one.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 by a New York jury on all seven counts brought against him, related to fraud against FTX customers, lenders, and investors. Prosecutors described the scheme as likely the largest financial fraud of the past decade. In November 2022, FTX had filed for bankruptcy after it was revealed that customer assets had been used to sustain the operations of Alameda Research, the hedge fund he had also founded.
Bankman-Fried Shows No Remorse and Takes No Responsibility
“He had his day in court,” Lummis said in a statement. “A jury didn’t buy the performance, and a judge gave him 25 years for a reason.” Gallego was more blunt: “He took advantage of millions of Americans and stole their savings. What is most troubling is that he has shown no remorse whatsoever and has instead ridiculously attempted to portray himself as a victim of judicial persecution.”
The resolution is non-binding, but it stands as a strong political signal from two legislators who have been central figures in negotiating crypto market structure legislation, one of the most ambitious regulatory projects currently being debated in Congress. Gallego has also pushed for that legislation to include provisions barring the president, the vice president, and their families from participating in digital asset transactions.
Over the past year, Trump pardoned industry-linked figures including Ross Ulbricht, operator of the darknet marketplace Silk Road, and Changpeng Zhao, former CEO of Binance. Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, lost his appeal last week to overturn the sentence and remains active on social media from prison, praising some of the president’s decisions.
