President Donald Trump is reportedly considering issuing 250 presidential pardons to commemorate the nation’s 250th birthday. An official announcement could come on June 14 or July 4, though the plans are still preliminary. Several prominent figures in the cryptocurrency space, including FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez, have sought pardons. Trump has already pardoned several crypto founders, including BitMEX co-founders and Binance‘s Changpeng “CZ” Zhao.
President Donald Trump is reportedly considering pardoning 250 people to mark the country’s 250th birthday. An official announcement could occur on June 14 or during Independence Day events on July 4.
The pardons remain in preliminary stages and are unconfirmed. More than 16,000 formal requests for presidential pardons were submitted last year.
Several jailed crypto founders and their supporters have advocated for pardons since Trump’s inauguration. On his first day back in office last year, Trump issued over 1,500 pardons to people involved in the 2021 Capitol storming.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, sentenced to 25 years in prison, has waged a social media campaign for a pardon. Trump reportedly ruled it out earlier this year.
Samourai Wallet developer Keonne Rodriguez has also publicly expressed hope for a pardon. Trump said last December he would review Rodriguez’s case and explore a pardon.
Petitions calling for pardons for Tornado Cash founders Roman Storm and Roman Semenov are currently live. These petitions have only gathered 22 and 9 signatures respectively.
Storm was convicted last August on charges related to operating an unlicensed money transmitting business. Semenov is wanted by the FBI and considered on the run.
Several crypto founders have already received pardons during Trump’s second term. The White House pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed last year.
Binance founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao was also pardoned in 2025 after serving a four-month sentence. Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht received a pardon from Trump in January 2025.
