There is still a possibility of a Trump pardon.
A federal appeals court has upheld the fraud conviction of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried reuters. Bankman-Fried was convicted of running one of the largest financial frauds in history, involving his crypto-exchange FTX. He was also convicted of money laundering and is currently in jail.
Judge Barrington Parker wrote in the appeal decision that “the government’s evidence against him was, conservatively, strong.” Bankman-Fried and her team still have the option to bring an appeal to higher courts, including the Supreme Court.
In total, he faced seven charges and was found guilty on every one. The disgraced crypto mogul was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024. Since that time, he has been fighting to overturn the decision in various ways.
The above is the appeal which has just been rejected. Bankman-Fried is also seeking a retrial on the grounds that new witness testimony could change the case prosecutors have built against her. He intends to represent himself at this retrial, although this is highly unlikely to happen.
He’s also trying to play the card of every rich grifter forced to face the music: applying for an official pardon from President Trump. The president suggested earlier this year that he would not pardon Bankman-Fried, but that he would also have to be reminded of who he was. The status of his request is currently listed as “pending,” according to the Justice Department’s website.
The White House has been quite free with pardons in the crypto sector. For almost nothing, the Trump family owns a crypto business that has earned the family over $2 billion since he took office in 2025. There’s no real way to see who has invested in Trump’s crypto Memecoin.
President Trump has also been found liable for fraud in a New York court. Additionally, he has been convicted in federal court of conspiracy to defraud the United States and the Trump Organization for a years-long scheme involving criminal tax fraud, defrauding investors, and falsifying business records. Maybe Bankman-Fried will get that pardon under the little-known “game recognition game” provision.
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