The Sam Bankman-Fried case continues to shake the crypto universe. A few days ago, the former crypto billionaire submitted a request for a presidential pardon to the Trump administration. In response, two senators on the Senate Banking Committee filed a formal resolution opposing any presidential pardon for the FTX founder.
In brief
- Republican and Democratic senators oppose any pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried.
- The founder of FTX has officially requested a presidential pardon.
- The case could influence the image of the crypto sector among the general public and regulators.
An unexpected political alliance that shakes up the crypto market
Republican Senator Cynthia Lummis and Democratic Senator Rubén Gallego officially file a joint resolution on June 17, 2026. Their goal: to demand that no executive clemency be granted to the founder of thecrypto exchange FTXwhether it is a pardon or a commutation of sentence.
THE text asserts that the 25 year sentence imposed on SBF reflects the extraordinary scale and deliberation of his crimes. For these elected officials, giving in to his request would therefore be equivalent to erasing his crimes and weakening judicial deterrence. Which would send a disastrous signal about the impunity of large-scale financial crimes.
Fervent crypto advocateSenator Lummis was clear. His office wants SBF to know he is exactly where he needs to be. Gallego did not mince his words:
He showed no remorse. Let him stay in prison.
A request for mercy which revives tensions
On June 8, Sam Bankman-Fried formally files a petition with the Office of Presidential Pardons of the US Department of Justice. The request concerns a pardon after completion of sentence, and not an immediate release.
This approach comes after several months of speculation around possible lobbying attempts in favor of the founder of the crypto exchange FTX. SBF's argument is based on precedent: Trump has already pardoned several figures in the crypto sphere. These include Changpeng Zhao from Binance and Ross Ulbricht from Silk Road.
The situation of fallen crypto king is however different. The fact is that his fraud cost millions of individual users billions. And Trump himself declared in January 2026 that he had no plans to pardon him. Beyond the personal case of Bankman-Fried, this affair therefore affects the credibility of the crypto sector with regulators and investors.
In any case, the message sent by Capitol Hill to the crypto industry is clear: the SBF case remains the red line that must not be crossed. It remains to be seen whether Donald Trump will maintain his firm stance in the face of growing pressure from his own camp.
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