FTT surges 50% after Sam Bankman‑Fried seeks Trump pardon

Sam Bankman‑Fried filed a petition for executive clemency this week through the Department of Justice’s Office of the Pardon Attorney, and the filing coincided with a sharp, short‑lived rally in FTT, the token once tied to the collapsed FTX exchange. Traders pushed FTT to about $0.35 from a recent low near $0.214, and reported trading volume for the token rose by more than 600% to over $16 million.

FTT no longer functions as an exchange token: FTX collapsed in November 2022 and the token has no active development team or supporting business. Market data indicate roughly 30% of the recent trading activity took place on Binance, the exchange whose earlier liquidation of FTT holdings helped spark the 2022 liquidity crisis. Some traders appeared to treat FTT as a direct wager on Bankman‑Fried’s legal prospects rather than a claim on a revived platform.

Bankman‑Fried was convicted in late 2023 on counts including wire fraud, conspiracy, securities fraud, commodities fraud and money laundering. In March 2024, a federal judge imposed a 25‑year prison term, three years of supervised release and ordered forfeiture of more than $11 billion. Prosecutors said he diverted customer funds to his trading firm, Alameda Research, and used the money for investments, real estate, political donations and debt payments.

The pardon filing formalizes a months‑long clemency effort by Bankman‑Fried’s family and legal representatives and bypasses the usual five‑year waiting period for clemency petitions. President Trump has publicly ruled out granting clemency to Bankman‑Fried. Prediction markets place low odds on a pardon by year‑end, with one market pricing the probability near 8%.

Legal experts note a presidential pardon would affect Bankman‑Fried’s criminal exposure and public status but would not automatically restore FTX, revive FTT’s utility, or alter creditor claims in the bankruptcy estate. The bankruptcy process and creditor recoveries operate separately from executive clemency for an individual.

Ryne Miller, FTX’s former general counsel, wrote on X that assets on hand in November 2022 were “nowhere near adequate” and that insiders were still compiling asset lists and seeking emergency capital as the platform unraveled. Senator Bernie Moreno urged against clemency, stating, “The guy shouldn’t be pardoned. The guy should go to jail for a long, long time.”

Market observers and analysts described the FTT spike as driven by speculative sentiment tied to the pardon filing rather than by a legal pathway to restore value for former customers or creditors. They pointed to the token’s lack of operational support and the separate legal processes governing bankruptcy and criminal sentences.