Nikolas Sargeant
The parents of Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, are reportedly exploring ways to secure a presidential pardon for their son. Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both professors at Stanford Law School and part of FTX's inner circle, have reportedly been engaging with individuals connected to former President Donald Trump's administration.
Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison after being convicted of fraud, is serving time for orchestrating a massive scheme that involved the misappropriation of billions in customer funds. FTX's sudden collapse in November 2022 followed revelations that its sister company, Alameda Research, had been using backdoor code to raid customer accounts.
Despite Bankman-Fried’s lack of widespread public support—unlike other individuals pardoned by Trump, such as Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht—his parents are said to argue that his sentence is too harsh, especially given that many FTX customers have since recovered their funds. The specifics of their attempts to directly communicate with the White House remain unclear, but it appears they are continuing to push for clemency through Trump’s inner circle.
