After CZ’s pardon, could Sam Bankman-Fried be next?

October is turning out to be quite a month for the crypto industry. When Bitcoin (BTC) hit a new all-time high (ATH) north of $126,000 during the first week, it seemed like "Uptober." But the moment President Donald Trump threatened to impose a 100% tariff on China toward the end of the second week, it turned out to be "Rektober."

Yesterday, Trump surprised the crypto industry when he pardoned convicted Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.

Related: Binance founder reacts to Trump’s presidential pardon

The billionaire crypto entrepreneur, who had pleaded guilty to failing to maintain adequate anti-money laundering (AML) standards, was sentenced by a U.S. federal judge to four months in prison in 2024. After quietly serving his prison time, he moved to Dubai and now has finally secured the presidential pardon.

Now, the crypto community is hoping that after Zhao, Trump could even pardon Sam Bankman-Fried, "SBF," the disgraced founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX.FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried arrives at Manhattan Federal Court for a court appearance on July 26, 2023 in New York City.

Who is Sam Bankman-Fried?

Sam Bankman-Fried founded FTX in 2019 and turned it into the world's third-largest crypto exchange in terms of trading volume at its peak in July 2021.

However, the exchange was found to be committing financial fraud by channeling customer funds to its senior executives by pooling money via FTX's sister concern, Alameda Research.

Bankman-Fried founded Alameda Research way back in 2017. Technically a crypto trading firm, Alameda operated like a hedge fund in practice. His then-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, acted as the CEO there and was well-aware of the misuse of customer funds over an extended period.Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, exits court in New York, US, on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.

Once customers sniffed potential fraud, they rushed to withdraw their funds from FTX, forcing the exchange to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November 2022.

In November 2023, the court convicted Bankman-Fried of seven counts of fraud, including fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering. In March 2024, the court sentenced him to 25 years in prison and ordered him to forfeit over $11 billion.

The court sentenced Ellison to two years in prison; she is expected to be released in mid-2026.

More News:

Sam Bankman-Fried's 25-year sentence could end 4 years early Chapter 11 bankruptcy firm to pay $1.9 billion to creditors Chapter 11 crypto exchange sues Bitcoin mining giant for $1.15 billion fraud

Sam Bankman-Freed?

Crypto traders on the popular crypto-based prediction market, Polymarket, think there is a 16% chance of Bankman-Fried getting released from custody this year. On-chain sleuth @coffeebreak_YT wrote on X,

"I'M QUITTING IF HE LETS SBF OUT."

Story Continues

In response, Polymarket posted a GIF featuring "Sam Bankman-Freed."

Interestingly enough, Bankman-Fried's X account reposted the Polymarket post. Note that the X account's bio says, "SBF's words. Shared by a friend."

The FTX founder is currently lodged at the FCI-Terminal Island prison in San Pedro, California.

This story was originally reported by TheStreet on Oct 24, 2025, where it first appeared in the Bankruptcy News & Analysis section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.

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