KEY POINTS
- The 32-year-old accused the Biden government of having “incredibly destructive” methods
- He said the Republican Party was more “reasonable” in dealing with crypto regulation
- He said he and Trump had common foes, including Judge Lewis Kaplan
Disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has painted himself as a supporter of President Donald Trump in his first interview since beginning his 25-year prison term following defunct crypto exchange FTX’s collapse.
In the interview with the New York Sun published Thursday, SBF criticized the previous administration under Joe Biden, saying it engaged in “political censorship.”
Crypto kingpin throws shade at Biden admin’s “overreach”
SBF was convicted on fraud and other charges last year, following the late 2022 collapse of FTX, which was said to have resulted in billions in losses to investors who believed in his narrative of FTX being a financially healthy business.
His first prison interview appeared to focus on comparisons between the previous and current administration under Trump.
SBF said his conviction was among the cases of “prosecutorial overreach” as implemented by the Biden administration.
“A lot of my time was spent on crypto policy and I, you know, became really frustrated and disappointed with what I saw of, you know, the Biden administration and Democratic Party,” he said.
The 32-year-old went on to blame the Biden government of having “incredibly destructive” methods, further accusing it of being “difficult to work with.” In fact, he said, the Republican Party was “far more reasonable.”
Sharing common enemies with Trump
Aside from seemingly blaming the Biden administration for his imprisonment, SBF didn’t waste time to flatter the current president.
He explained that he and Trump had common enemies, including Judge Lewis Kaplan, who oversaw the president’s federal defamation trial and also the FTX case.
“I viewed myself at the time as a sort of Center-Left and that’s not how I view myself anymore,” he said.
It was worth noting that Bankman-Fried was one of the biggest donors to Biden’s fight against Trump in the 2020 presidential elections.
Things have changed since then, he reiterated, noting how he knew “there have been discussions of a pardon” for him, seemingly referring to a Bloomberg report that his parents were exploring the possibility of asking Trump to pardon their son.
“Given what President Trump has seen of the DOJ and its politicization, I think there is a real conversation happening around that,” he said of a potential clemency consideration.
Is a pardon possible?
Bankman-Fried‘s case was one of the most followed stories in crypto, especially after his ex-girlfriend and colleague, Caroline Ellison, testified against him and made huge revelations about the shady business of FTX and its sister company, Alameda Research.
Unlike prominent crypto figure Ross Ulbricht, whom Trump pardoned last month, SBF has become a much-hated figure in the space.
Many view Ulbricht as just a “creator” of a website that users abused and misused, while many see Bankman-Fried as a young businessman who exploited the trust of his customers and investors.
It remains to be seen whether Trump will consider a pardon for SBF. The president’s office has yet to confirm or deny whether there have indeed been discussions for a pardon for the genius-turned-convict.
