Trump says Sam Bankman-Fried will not receive a pardon

President Donald Trump said he is not considering a pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, according to an interview with The New York Times published Wednesday.

Trump commented while discussing a separate pardon request from music executive Sean Combs, whose letter seeking clemency the president said he had received but did not plan to grant. When asked about other high-profile figures, Trump said he had no intention of pardoning Bankman-Fried.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 on multiple fraud charges tied to the collapse of FTX, once one of the largest crypto trading platforms in the world. Prosecutors said he stole billions of dollars in customer funds, using them to prop up affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research, make political donations, and finance personal spending.

The downfall of FTX in late 2022 marked one of the most significant failures in crypto history, triggering a broader loss of confidence across digital asset markets and accelerating regulatory scrutiny of exchanges, stablecoins, and crypto custody practices.

Trump also said he would not consider pardons for several other figures raised by Times reporters, including former US senator Robert Menendez and Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro. Asked separately about Derek Chauvin, the former Minneapolis police officer convicted in the killing of George Floyd, Trump said he had not been asked about a pardon.