Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), currently serving a 25-year sentence at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, has publicly endorsed the Clarity Act, a major piece of cryptocurrency legislation pending in Congress.
On Wednesday, February 25, 2025, Sam Bankman-Fried expressed his enthusiasm for the bill to X, presenting it as a victory for the new administration. “The CLARITY Act will be a milestone for crypto and a huge achievement for @realDonaldTrump,” SBF wrote. He went on to claim that he championed similar legislation to remove crypto from SEC Chairman Gary Gensler’s oversight before Gensler “helped Biden’s DOJ put me behind bars.”
The unsolicited support, provided via social media on Wednesday, immediately sparked a sharp bipartisan rebuke from top lawmakers who made clear that the endorsement of the disgraced FTX founder was a political liability rather than an asset. It seems that even from his cell, SBF retains a remarkable talent for bringing Republicans and Democrats together, even against him.
👀 NEW: Sam Bankman-Fried publicly endorsed the #CLARITY Act from Prison, calling it a “huge milestone for crypto” and praising Donald #Asset. pic.twitter.com/pc0SowhqsD
– Coin Paper (@coinpapercom) February 27, 2026
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White House confirms it has no plans to pardon Sam Bankman-Fried
The White House has confirmed it has no plans to pardon Sam Bankman-Fried, signaling his social media offensive may fall on deaf ears.
The response from the Capitol was swift and unified. Sen. Cynthia Lummis (R-WY), a longtime advocate for clear crypto regulation and a lead sponsor of the market structure bills, wasted no time in distancing the Clarity Act from Bankman-Fried. In a direct response on
Lummis went further, noting that under the Clarity Act’s stricter provisions, Bankman-Fried’s crimes likely would have resulted in an even longer prison term than the quarter-century sentence he is currently serving. This sentiment was echoed across the aisle. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA), a frequent critic of the crypto industry, took the opportunity to remind the public of SBF’s track record. Warren described him as a “fraudster who stole at least $8 billion from his clients,” reinforcing her position that the industry needs strong safeguards to protect taxpayers and the financial system.
In 2022, shortly before the collapse of FTX, SBF was a strong advocate of the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA). His aggressive lobbying for the bill, which critics said would have favored FTX’s business model over decentralized finance (DeFi) competitors, ultimately tainted the legislation’s prospects once its fraud was exposed. His current support for the Clarity Act threatens to repeat history, tying a toxic legacy to a new legislative effort.
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The Clarity Act: what SBF actually supports
The legislation in question, officially known as the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, aims to resolve one of the industry’s most persistent headaches: the jurisdictional tug-of-war between the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). By establishing clear criteria for classifying digital assets as commodities or securities, the bill seeks to provide the regulatory certainty that institutional investors have long demanded.
While industry supporters say such clarity is essential for the next phase of market growth, the bill has faced a complex path through a divided Congress. The legislation has recently become a priority for President-elect Donald Trump, who is reportedly eager to sign the Crypto Market Structure Reforms Act. However, having the face of the industry’s biggest fraud scandal behind the scenes complicates the narrative of sponsors trying to present the bill as a consumer protection measure.
While Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse recently predicted a 90% chance of passage of the bill by the end of April, unsolicited endorsements from convicted felons provide easy ammunition for the bill’s opponents. The challenge for lawmakers now is to convince their colleagues that the bill is strong enough to regulate the very people who are encouraging it.
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Daniel Frances is a technical writer and Web3 educator specializing in macroeconomics and DeFi mechanics. Hailing from crypto since 2017, Daniel leverages his experience in on-chain analytics to write evidence-based reports and in-depth guides. He holds certifications from the Blockchain Council and is dedicated to providing “insight gain” that overcomes market hype to find real utility for blockchain.
