Bitcoin Holds Firm Above $63K as Sam Bankman-Fried Pardon Application Sparks Controversy

Sam Bankman-Fried has formally applied for a pardon from former President Trump, citing time served and cooperation offers. The move comes two years into his 25-year sentence for FTX fraud. This is not his first brush with clemency, as Trump granted similar pardons to industry players last year, including BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes.

However, the crypto community is divided on this development, with some calling it a reward for negligence that cost users billions. Others see it as an end to selective prosecutions and a sign of a regulatory reset. The Humanity crypto project has been rocked by a $32 million private-key hack, which wiped 80-90% off its value in hours.

The attackers minted extra tokens and dumped H for ETH and BNB, crashing the price from $0.70 to under $0.10. The team paused the bridge and liquidity pools, but one member's keys were compromised. ZachXBT has called the incident suspicious, pointing to a pre-hack pump, concentrated supply, and market-maker ties.

Bitcoin stands strong above $63K as the Fear & Greed Index is locked in extreme fear. The recent hack season has seen multiple bridges drained for hundreds of millions total, with North Korea-linked actors dominating the list. This fallout fuels institutional distrust and explains record ETF outflows topping $4B in recent weeks.