Bankman-Fried's Statement on Hernández Pardon
Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried took to social media on Tuesday to comment on President Donald Trump’s pardon of former Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernández, writing, "few are more deserving than him."
This statement comes as Bankman-Fried himself is seeking a pardon from Trump. He was convicted in 2023 on multiple fraud and conspiracy charges related to the misappropriation of billions from his now-defunct crypto exchange, FTX. He is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence while appealing his conviction. His X bio indicates that the posts are his own words, shared by a friend.
“I’m so glad Juan Orlando is free—few are more deserving than him,” Bankman-Fried stated on X. Hernández was reportedly pardoned on Tuesday after receiving a 45-year prison sentence last year for drug trafficking.
Just a few days prior, Bankman-Fried mentioned that he had met Hernández. In a post on X, he described Hernández as one of the kindest and most dedicated individuals he has ever encountered.
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Last month, Bankman-Fried's case was reviewed by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit as the former executive pursued a new trial. The court is not expected to issue an opinion on the possibility of a retrial until well into next year.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, have also been advocating for a pardon, following other attempts to secure pardons for high-profile crypto figures, most recently former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao.
Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both Stanford Law School professors and reportedly part of FTX’s inner circle, are said to be engaging with individuals connected to Trump’s inner circle to explore the possibility of securing a presidential pardon for their son.
However, Bankman-Fried's prospects for a pardon appear slim. He was a significant donor to the Biden campaign in 2020, contributing $5.2 million to oppose Trump at the time.
This pursuit of a pardon is influenced by Trump’s recent pattern of using his clemency powers to release individuals with substantial public support, such as Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht. In contrast to Zhao and Ulbricht, Bankman-Fried does not have widespread public backing, although he contends that his sentence is excessively severe, particularly given that most FTX customers have recovered their financial losses.
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Bankman-Fried’s FTX, once the world's third-largest cryptocurrency exchange, declared bankruptcy in November 2022 after a report indicated that its sister company, Alameda Research, was in a precarious financial state.
It was later revealed that Alameda had utilized backdoor code to access billions in customer funds from FTX, an arrangement overseen by Bankman-Fried and other founding members of Alameda.
The former crypto executive was sentenced to 25 years in prison and ordered to forfeit $11 billion following convictions on seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering.
Bankman-Fried’s recent comments coincide with his engagement in various legal avenues. His case has recently been heard by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, where his legal team is requesting a new trial. A decision is not anticipated until well into next year, leaving him with few immediate options.
These comments regarding Hernández align with a broader pattern. Bankman-Fried has become increasingly active online in recent months, through intermediaries, presenting his account of events surrounding FTX’s collapse. He has repeatedly asserted in numerous posts that the exchange was solvent when it filed for bankruptcy and that the current estates are mismanaging or withholding funds.
His renewed presence on X represents a broader effort to challenge the prevailing narrative concerning FTX’s collapse. As bankruptcy proceedings continue and the court oversees asset recoveries, Bankman-Fried has utilized social media to assert that customer losses were avoidable.