What You Need to Know
- Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried are seeking clemency for their son, Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been convicted of fraud.
- Their son, known for founding FTX, was sentenced to 25 years in prison after the exchange collapsed in late 2022.
- The couple has reached out to individuals linked to Trump’s inner circle to pursue a potential pardon.
Background
According to a Bloomberg report, the parents of the convicted crypto trader are investigating ways to secure a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. They have reportedly communicated with people connected to Trump’s administration.
In the last few weeks, Bankman-Fried’s parents attempted to engage with the Trump administration regarding the possibility of clemency for their son, who received a 25-year prison sentence for fraud. The specific communications with the White House remain ambiguous.
Trump has previously utilized his clemency powers on several occasions for individuals who garnered significant public support, like Ross Ulbricht. However, unlike Ulbricht, Bankman-Fried lacks such widespread recognition, although he claims his sentence is disproportionately severe, especially given that most FTX users have recouped their losses.
FTX, once ranked as the third-largest crypto exchange globally, collapsed in November 2022 after a CoinDesk report indicated financial instability within its affiliated company, Alameda Research. Alameda was discovered to have exploited backdoor coding to misappropriate billions from FTX clients, coordinated by Bankman-Fried and others from Alameda’s founding team.
Currently, Bankman-Fried has been ordered to forfeit $11 billion in addition to his prison sentence.
