As the current U.S. President Biden's term will end on 1/20, the day Trump is inaugurated, there is ongoing public interest in whether he will use the remaining time to issue more pardons. Of course, gamblers in the cryptocurrency sector will not miss this opportunity, and the on-chain betting platform Polymarket has set up a betting market on whether Biden will pardon former FTX CEO SBF, who donated millions to the Democratic Party, or whether Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht will receive clemency. The results indicate that SBF has a slight edge.
Polymarket shows SBF greater than Ulbricht, Diddy has only 1%.
As of 1/9, data from the on-chain gambling platform Polymarket shows that SBF has a 4% chance of receiving a pardon from Biden, while Ross Ulbricht's chance is 2%. Currently, gamblers have wagered more than $5 million on SBF, while Ulbricht has attracted $1.2 million in bets.
SBF, who donated tens of millions to the Democratic Party, was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2023 for seven counts related to fraud at the FTX exchange and is currently incarcerated and has filed an appeal. Ulbricht was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2015 for operating the Silk Road dark web marketplace.
Ironically, the American rapper Diddy, who was arrested after being charged with sexual violence, abuse, and extortion, also appears on the betting market with a 1% chance of pardon, with current bets totaling $630,000.
(Having received large donations from SBF, should Democratic politicians return the 'ill-gotten gains'?)
Biden has pardoned thousands and his own son, raising public suspicions of self-serving motives.
Biden announced last December that he would commute the sentences of more than 1,500 people who were sent to home confinement during the COVID-19 pandemic, while also signing a controversial pardon that targeted Biden's son, Hunter Biden.
Hunter has drawn public attention due to felony charges related to gun purchases, and when Biden was previously interviewed, a reporter asked whether he would pardon his son. However, he has now signed a pardon for Hunter, prompting public skepticism about whether he is acting in self-interest and resulting in considerable criticism. With only 11 days left until Biden leaves office, it remains unknown whether he will further pardon more federal criminals.
Biden and his son Hunter were photographed together. Trump had previously stated he would reduce Ulbricht's sentence, but did not fulfill this promise.
Former President Trump had previously promised during his campaign to consider reducing Ross Ulbricht's sentence as a strategy to garner support from the cryptocurrency community; however, he did not fulfill this promise during his first term. Currently, neither Biden nor Trump has clearly stated whether they will pardon SBF. Given the criticism from politicians in both parties regarding the FTX collapse, the likelihood of receiving a pardon is relatively low.
According to U.S. federal law, the President has absolute pardon power over federal criminals, meaning that both Biden and Trump have the authority to make decisions regarding SBF or Ulbricht.
(Trump said that the United States must become a leader in the cryptocurrency space, promising to commute the sentence of the Silk Road founder.)
This article asks whether Biden will pardon crypto and entertainment celebrities. Polymarket bets that SBF has a higher chance than the Silk Road founder, with Diddy at only 1%. This first appeared in Chain News ABMedia.
