U.S. Senate Unanimously Passes Resolution Opposing Clemency for FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried

Jul 16, 2026

The U.S. Senate has unanimously passed S. Res. 772, a bipartisan, nonbinding resolution declaring that convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried should under no circumstances receive a presidential pardon or commutation. Led by Senators Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego, the measure signals strong political resistance to Bankman-Fried's June 2026 clemency petition. Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year prison sentence for orchestrating an $8 billion financial fraud.

Senate clemency opposition resolution

▪S. Res. 772 was introduced on June 17, 2026, by Senators Ruben Gallego and Cynthia Lummis, and later cosponsored by Senator Bernie Moreno on July 14, 2026.
▪The United States Senate unanimously approved S. Res. 772, a nonbinding resolution opposing any presidential pardon or commutation of sentence for FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

FTX collapse mechanics

▪FTX collapsed in November 2022 after CoinDesk published Alameda Research's balance sheet, revealing that the trading firm's assets were heavily backed by FTT, a token created by FTX.
▪The collapse of FTX was accelerated when the cryptocurrency exchange Binance announced plans to sell its FTT holdings, triggering a rapid drop in FTT's price and a rush of customer withdrawals.

Customer fund misuse

▪Sam Bankman-Fried transferred billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to his trading firm, Alameda Research, to fund speculative trades, venture investments, political donations, and Bahamian real estate.
▪FTX's software was configured to exempt Alameda Research from the standard margin rules that would have forced the trading firm to cover its losses.

Bankman-Fried conviction sentence

▪Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted by a federal jury in November 2023 on seven criminal counts related to the collapse of FTX and the loss of over $8 billion in customer funds.
▪Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison and is not expected to be eligible for release until approximately 2044.

Bipartisan political consensus

▪Senator Cynthia Lummis stated that Sam Bankman-Fried had his day in court, while Senator Ruben Gallego publicly demanded that authorities keep him locked up.
▪The resolution opposing clemency was led by the top Republican and Democrat of the Senate Banking Committee's digital assets subcommittee, signaling broad bipartisan agreement.

Presidential pardon context

▪Sam Bankman-Fried formally applied for executive clemency from President Donald Trump in June 2026, with the request listed as pending in Department of Justice records.
▪President Donald Trump stated in January 2026 that he had no plans to pardon Sam Bankman-Fried, despite having previously pardoned other crypto figures including Changpeng Zhao and Ross Ulbricht.