- President Donald Trump has granted full pardons to the co-founders of BitMEX along with their former employee
- BitMEX was previously accused of failing to implement proper anti-money laundering measures, which led to legal battles and significant fines for all individuals involved.
U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned the three founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, along with a former top employee, according to a White House official. The company has also been granted a full pardon.
This decision has drawn so much attention in the crypto world, as it has cleared all the individuals and the platform from any legal issues related to their past activities.
The former founders of BitMEX; Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, along with the former business development head, Gregory Dwyer, previously admitted to guilt charges under the Bank Secrecy Act for not enforcing anti-money laundering and other identity verification measures.
Their legal troubles lasted for several years, and it focused on financial regulations and other compliance failures. On Thursday, Donald Trump granted them full pardons, clearing them of all charges related to the case.
BitMEX Co-Founders’ Previous Legal Troubles
BitMEX, which was once a leading Bitcoin derivatives exchange platform, was first put under scrutiny by the U.S government in 2020 for operating without proper anti-money laundering (AML) measures. The Federal Authorities accused the platform of failing to prevent unregulated financial activities between 2015 and 2020. In 2022, the co-founders of the platform pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay $10 million each in penalties.
The exchange itself later faced a $100 million fine in early 2024 for other additional violations. The Prosecutors claimed BitMEX continued serving US customers through other indirect means despite publicly stating otherwise. However, with all of these, the President still decided to pardon the co-founders.
The Co-founders Response to the Presidential Pardon
Arthur Hayes first shared a post on X saying “Thank you POTUS,” which means “President of the United States.”
Delo also expressed his gratitude, thanking the President for the pardon and calling it a validation of their long-held stance. He went on to criticize the US Department of Justice for unfairly targeting BitMEX and its founders, claiming they should never have faced any criminal charges under an outdated law.
He also claimed the exchange was unfairly used as a political example despite being highly successful in the crypto industry.
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