Celebrating 250 years of America! Trump plans to pardon 250 people, will the founders of FTX and Tornado be chosen?

U.S. President Trump is reportedly considering a pardon program for 250 people, drawing attention from the crypto community. The market is buzzing about whether the developers of mixing (tumbler) protocols involved in privacy controversies—and whether SBF—could be included.

Trump throws out a “pardon plan for 250 people,” sparking intense crypto community attention to the list’s developments

According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, U.S. President Trump is considering pushing a large-scale pardon program during the 250th anniversary of the United States’ founding, which is expected to pardon about 250 criminals. After the news was made public, the cryptocurrency industry also began to discuss it, with people in the industry—especially those who have been involved in major cases in recent years—wondering whether they might get the opportunity to be added to the pardon list.

Among the people the market is currently most focused on are the convicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), as well as individuals involved in privacy-protocol-related cases, such as Tornado Cash founder Roman Storm and Alexey Pertsev. Because Trump has continued to send friendly signals to the crypto industry over the past year, some supporters have begun to speculate whether the White House might revisit parts of certain crypto-related cases.

When Trump recently discussed the pardon plan with his staff, he also mentioned that he hoped to echo the symbolic significance of the United States’ 250th anniversary through a “pardon for 250 people,” but the White House has not yet announced an official list.

The Tornado Cash case continues to unfold, and the crypto community rallies behind the developers

Among all potentially discussed candidates, the Tornado Cash-related case has attracted particular attention from the crypto community. Some crypto supporters believe that the U.S. government’s enforcement actions against Tornado Cash developers in recent years involve a core issue: whether “code is protected speech.”

Tornado Cash is an Ethereum-based privacy-mixing protocol. The U.S. Treasury Department had accused the North Korean Lazarus Group of using the tool to launder money, and therefore imposed sanctions on the protocol. However, the crypto community and some developers have long criticized that the U.S. government directly equates open-source code development with criminal activity, which could create a chilling effect on the broader open-source software industry.

As of now, Tornado Cash co-founder Roman Storm is still facing U.S. judicial proceedings, and a Dutch court has already issued a ruling on another developer, Alexey Pertsev. Many crypto supporters believe that if Trump truly pushes a large-scale pardon, crypto privacy cases could become a concrete, symbolic political issue.

• Related news: Tornado Cash sanctions case ends! The U.S. Treasury drops its appeal, and TORN jumps more than 5%

Could SBF be pardoned? The market reacts in two directions

Compared with the Tornado Cash developer case, which carries technical and open-source controversies, the situation of FTX founder SBF is even more sensitive. SBF was previously convicted on multiple charges, including fraud, misappropriation of customer assets, and financial crimes, and is seen as one of the most representative financial scandals in the crypto industry.

Some market participants believe that the likelihood of SBF receiving a pardon is relatively low, mainly because the FTX incident involved a large number of victims and enormous political pressure. In particular, SBF’s case dealt a severe blow to confidence among U.S. retail customers and institutional investors, and it has also prompted U.S. regulators to step up aggressive enforcement actions against the crypto industry.

• Related news: Facing the FTX scandal without mercy, Trump said no pardon—SBF’s appeal hopes are officially dashed

However, some supporters also believe that Trump has in the past repeatedly used pardons to demonstrate political symbolism. Whether, in the future, he would package some crypto cases as examples of “excessive government regulation” remains a subject of discussion.

Crypto regulation is gradually becoming a focus of political struggle in the U.S.

Trump’s stance toward cryptocurrencies has clearly changed over the past year. In addition to publicly supporting Bitcoin mining and digital asset innovation, during the campaign he also actively sought funding and support from the crypto industry. Attitudes toward cryptocurrencies within the Republican Party are increasingly forming a stark contrast with those within the Democratic Party.

As the U.S. election draws closer, issues related to the crypto industry are rapidly becoming politicized. Topics such as crypto regulation, privacy tools, and financial freedom are also gradually shifting from technology and finance matters to becoming part of the political struggle in the U.S.