President Donald Trump might have seemed becoming lenient when, last year, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao received a pardon.
However, the leniency is not extending to Zhao's rival and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
In an interview with The New York Times , Trump revealed a few names who he will not be granting a pardon.
Related: Sam Bankman-Fried Collapsed FTX Amid 'Complete Failure of Corporate Controls', Says New CEO
Who will not be pardoned?
Several high-profile figures were notably excluded from President Donald Trump's list of pardons, including music executive Sean "P Diddy" Combs , Venezuela's former leader Nicolás Maduro , former New Jersey senator Robert Menendez, and Bankman-Fried.
Combs was convicted last year on prostitution-related charges and received a 50-month prison sentence.
His legal team filed an appeal last month, arguing the case unfairly criminalized consensual adult relationships and claiming the judge acted improperly. Trump has said that Combs personally wrote to him requesting a pardon.
Maduro, meanwhile, is confronting U.S. federal charges tied to narco-terrorism and an alleged conspiracy to traffic cocaine. He has pleaded not guilty to those accusations.
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The FTX Saga
Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, was the founder and former CEO of FTX, once one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges.
Launched in 2019, FTX rose rapidly by offering crypto derivatives, aggressive marketing, and high-profile sponsorships.
In November 2022, the exchange collapsed after it was revealed that customer funds had been misused and commingled with SBF's trading firm, Alameda Research.
The implosion triggered one of the largest scandals in crypto history, wiping out billions in user funds.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in 2023 of fraud-related charges, becoming a symbol of crypto's regulatory failures.
Related: With Sam-Bankman Fried facing life in jail, the crypto industry is ready to move on
This story was originally published by TheStreet on Jan 8, 2026, where it first appeared in the MARKETS section. Add TheStreet as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
