US Senate Unanimously Opposes Pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried
In brief
- Senate unanimously passed S. Res. 772 opposing pardon or commutation for Bankman-Fried
- Resolution is nonbinding and cannot override president's constitutional clemency authority
- Bankman-Fried's 25-year sentence means likely release around 2044 after appeal loss
The Resolution and Its Limits
The measure passed by unanimous consent—a procedure that clears a resolution as long as not a single senator objects. But as a nonbinding resolution, it carries no legal force and cannot curb the president's constitutional power to grant clemency.
The resolution was steered by Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-WY) and Rubén Gallego (D-AZ), the top Republican and Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee's digital assets subcommittee. They introduced it on June 17. Lummis, a prominent crypto advocate in Congress, said Bankman-Fried "had his day in court." Gallego was more direct: "Keep him locked up."
A Lummis office spokesperson told Decrypt that Bankman-Fried "has clearly ramped up his pardon campaign" and that the senator wants him to know "he's right where he belongs."
The Conviction and Appeal
A jury convicted Bankman-Fried in November 2023 on seven counts tied to the 2022 implosion of FTX. Prosecutors called it one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history after American customers lost more than $8 billion. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Bankman-Fried lost his appeal when a federal court upheld his fraud conviction last month. His scheduled release is expected somewhere around 2044.
Trump's Stance
President Donald Trump said in January that he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried. That said, Trump has been willing to extend clemency to other crypto figures—among them Binance founder Changpeng "CZ" Zhao, BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes and Ben Delo, and Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. The Senate resolution signals bipartisan resistance to any shift in that position when it comes to Bankman-Fried.
