Why Every Single U.S. Senator Voted To Keep Sam Bankman-Fried Locked Up

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By: Gavin Thorne

This unanimous Senate vote against a Sam Bankman-Fried pardon isn’t just a nod to public anger. It’s an explicit line drawn by both parties that splits all crypto actors into two distinct buckets. One bucket holds people convicted of regulatory violations that fit a political narrative. The other holds people who stole billions from ordinary customers, no matter how much they donated. Even the most divided Senate can agree where SBF belongs.

The resolution, labeled S. Res. 772, passed on July 16 by unanimous consent. No single senator from either party raised an objection. It was first introduced on June 17 by two leaders of the Senate Banking Committee’s digital assets subcommittee. One is Cynthia Lummis, a Republican from Wyoming. The other is Ruben Gallego, a Democrat from Arizona. Gallego’s blunt line “Keep him locked up” became the resolution’s unofficial slogan. Lummis noted Bankman-Fried already had a full and fair trial. The resolution is nonbinding, so it cannot legally block a presidential pardon.

Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on seven fraud charges tied to FTX’s collapse. Prosecutors called it one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history. American customers lost more than $8 billion in total. He will not be eligible for release from prison until around 2044. The core of the scheme moved billions in FTX customer deposits to Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s private trading firm. That money funded risky trades, venture investments, political donations and luxury real estate in the Bahamas. The scam unraveled in November 2022 when CoinDesk exposed Alameda’s lopsided balance sheet.

This vote comes on the heels of two high-profile crypto pardons from President Trump. Earlier this year, he granted clemency to Binance founder Changpeng Zhao and Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. Those pardons immediately sparked widespread speculation that Bankman-Fried could be next. His family launched a direct lobbying push to the White House to secure his release. The White House already stated in January that it had no plans to pardon Bankman-Fried. The Senate’s unanimous vote reinforces that position with overwhelming political pressure. SBF’s appeal to overturn his conviction was already rejected by courts, leaving a pardon as his only option.

This vote exposes the unwritten rule that now governs crypto in Washington. Regulatory violations can be brushed aside for political favors. Large-scale fraud that steals billions from ordinary American customers cannot. That’s the line even the most polarized Senate can agree on. Bankman-Fried was one of the biggest political donors in the cycle before his collapse. He donated to both parties, but no senator was willing to defend him now. The size of the losses and the brazenness of the fraud makes any support political suicide.

No president will risk the political backlash of pardoning Sam Bankman-Fried, ever.

Author bio: Gavin Thorne, investigative journalist tracking special interests and legislative affairs based in Washington, D.C.