The parents of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried are reportedly seeking a presidential pardon for their son through Donald Trump’s team, according to Bloomberg.
Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for his involvement in the collapse of FTX, which, at its peak, was the world’s third-largest crypto exchange.
His parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, were reportedly entangled in their son’s cryptocurrency empire, and allegedly received millions from FTX ventures. In 2023, FTX debtors sued the pair in an attempt to recoup their financial losses.
Now, as their son languishes in a prison cell, Bankman-Fried’s parents are frenziedly arranging meetings with lawyers and influential members of Trump’s team to investigate the possibility of an early release for their son, Bloomberg reports.
Fried, a retired Stanford Law professor, was frequently photographed at her son’s trial in 2023 and 2024, and later advocated for a lenient sentence for the crypto kingpin. “He has lost 30 pounds since he was remanded to prison in August,” she wrote last year. “He has never once complained to us or, as far as I know, the prison authorities. He has just made do, because it was important enough to him to do so.”
Fried also attempted to portray her son as magnanimous, a stark contrast to the prosecutor's characterization of him as a CEO misappropriating customer funds: “In his three years there, he gave away over half of his earnings,” Fried said. “Characteristically, he never told us — a friend of his did. He has never been interested in praise, and has always deflected it.”
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, raising hopes for future presidential pardons. However, Bankman-Fried has largely struggled to attract even modest support or sympathy among the digital asset community.
On the crypto prediction market platform Polymarket, users have wagered over $423,000 on Bankman-Fried’s chances of release, estimating that Trump’s likelihood of fulfilling this request stands at just 5%.