Sam Bankman-Fried wants out of prison. Two of the Senate’s most prominent crypto advocates want to make sure that doesn’t happen.
Senators Cynthia Lummis and Bernie Moreno are introducing legislation urging President Trump to reject a pardon request from the convicted FTX founder, who filed a formal application with the Department of Justice on June 8. SBF is roughly two years into a 25-year sentence for fraud that wiped out between $8 billion and $11 billion in customer and investor funds.
The pardon play and the political backlash
SBF has spent his time behind bars positioning himself as a Trump ally. Through prison communications, he has expressed support for the president and various crypto-friendly legislation, apparently hoping to build a case for clemency by aligning himself with the administration’s policy goals.
Senator Moreno called SBF “a piece of s–t.” Lummis criticized SBF for the harm he inflicted on victims and expressed hope that Trump would deny the request. Both senators framed their opposition not as anti-crypto sentiment, but as pro-accountability sentiment.
