Sam Bankman-Fried, the convicted founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has formally filed a petition for a presidential pardon with the Trump White House, his attorney confirmed to CNBC and Fox Business on Monday.
The petition was filed with the Office of the Pardon Attorney, a division of the Department of Justice that processes clemency applications. A formal petition represents the most concrete step Bankman-Fried has taken toward clemency since his sentencing. The Trump administration has not yet publicly responded to the filing.
FTX's FTT token recorded a sharp move on Monday afternoon. According to CoinGecko data, FTT traded at approximately $0.234 Monday afternoon, then jumped to $0.3554 within an hour, a gain of roughly 52%. The token pulled back to around $0.3211 by Tuesday morning, still up approximately 32% over the trailing 24 hours. FTT carries a fully diluted valuation of $105.6 million, per CoinGecko.
FTT remains 99.6% below its September 2021 all-time high of $84.18.
Bankman-Fried, 32, is serving a 25-year sentence at a federal correctional facility following his November 2023 conviction on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. A separate sentencing for related charges was completed in March 2024.
