The native token of the collapsed FTX exchange, FTT, experienced a dramatic 50% price surge on June 8, 2026, following news that former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a presidential pardon from Donald Trump and publicly expressed his desire for clemency.
In a phone interview with Fox Business anchor Susan Li, Bankman-Fried — currently serving a 25-year sentence at a low-security federal facility in Santa Barbara, California — stated he “absolutely” wants a pardon. He refused to comment on whether his family is lobbying on his behalf, saying he “can’t speak for them.”
Later that day, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney confirmed that a “pardon after completion of sentence” application had been filed in Bankman-Fried’s name. The formal submission revives a clemency effort that has already faced political headwinds: President Trump told The New York Times in January that he had no plans to pardon the former crypto mogul, and a White House spokesperson this week referred back to those earlier remarks, signaling no change in the administration’s stance.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 on seven fraud and conspiracy charges after prosecutors proved he diverted billions in customer funds from FTX to its affiliated trading firm, Alameda Research. The collapse caused customer losses of approximately $8 billion, investor losses of $1.7 billion, and lender losses of $1.3 billion. Yet in the Fox Business interview, Bankman-Fried disputed the narrative, claiming he never stole user funds and pointing to bankruptcy proceedings that have — according to him — allowed some customers to recover up to 170% of their original deposits due to the rebound in crypto prices. “The platform was ultimately over-collateralized,” he asserted.
The pardon bid comes after a string of legal setbacks. Earlier this year, Bankman-Fried withdrew a Rule 33 motion for a new trial after Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected arguments that new evidence had emerged or that witnesses were pressured. His direct appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit remains active. Meanwhile, his parents, Stanford law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, have publicly questioned the trial’s fairness, with Barbara Fried suggesting political motivations behind the prosecution. Despite these efforts, prediction markets like Polymarket and Kalshi placed pardon odds at just 11% and 9%, respectively, and U.S. Senator Cynthia Lummis openly expressed hope that Trump would not grant clemency.
FTT, which had been trading in a low range, instantly jumped on the interview and the formal pardon filing. The token climbed above $0.37 for the first time in almost a month, marking a 50% daily gain.
