Senate draws a hard line: no clemency for SBF, unanimous consent and zero fans 🔒

The U.S. Senate on Wednesday passed by unanimous consent a bipartisan resolution declaring that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should "under no circumstances" receive a presidential pardon or commutation, a nonbinding rebuke delivered months after President Donald Trump pardoned other high-profile crypto figures. Senators Cynthia Lummis, a Wyoming Republican, and Ruben Gallego, an Arizona Democrat, introduced the measure on June 17. Lummis chairs the Senate Banking Committee's digital assets subcommittee alongside Gallego as its top Democrat. "He had his day in court," Lummis said at the time. Gallego's statement ended with four words: "Keep him locked up."

Bankman-Fried, 32, is not eligible for release until around 2044. A jury convicted him in November 2023 on seven counts tied to the collapse of FTX, which prosecutors described as one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history, with American customers losing more than $8 billion. At trial, prosecutors detailed how Bankman-Fried moved billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to Alameda Research, a trading firm he also controlled, which spent the funds on trades, venture investments, political donations and Bahamian real estate.

President Donald Trump said in January he had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried. Trump has previously pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht and other white-collar offenders. The Senate's resolution carries no legal force but signals bipartisan agreement that Bankman-Fried's conviction and 25-year sentence should stand.