Trump Pardons BitMEX Founders in Surprise Legal Twist

Hayes, Delo, and Reed Walk Free Despite Past Felony Pleas

Former President Donald Trump has reportedly granted pardons to three co-founders of the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX—Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed—who had previously pleaded guilty to serious federal charges tied to money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations. The move, reported by CNBC on March 28, raises questions about the motivations behind Trump’s decision, as the pardons appear to follow a broader pattern of clemency granted to individuals involved in high-profile or controversial legal battles tied to his political base or the tech space.

Hayes and Delo pleaded guilty in early 2022 to failing to implement a proper Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program at BitMEX, admitting they had willfully neglected their obligations under U.S. financial law. Reed entered a similar plea shortly afterward. The charges stemmed from a 2020 indictment brought by U.S. authorities, who accused the trio—along with BitMEX’s first employee, Gregory Dwyer—of willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act. During the peak of the legal proceedings, Hayes resigned as CEO, marking a dramatic fall from grace for one of the most recognizable figures in the crypto trading world.

Though the White House had yet to issue a formal statement about the pardons by the time of reporting, the decision follows a growing list of controversial clemencies Trump has issued since his return to the political spotlight. Earlier this year, Trump granted pardons or commutations to over 1,500 individuals linked to the January 6 Capitol riots and to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht, who was incarcerated for more than a decade. Reports also suggest that Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO recently sentenced to 25 years for fraud, has been actively seeking support from Trump and Republican circles in hopes of securing a future pardon.

While Hayes, Delo, and Reed had already received relatively lenient sentences—home confinement or probation—the legal fallout from the case extended beyond criminal court. In 2022, the trio agreed to pay $30 million in penalties to settle civil charges brought by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). A year earlier, BitMEX had entered into a consent agreement with both the CFTC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), paying $100 million in penalties. Most recently, in January, HDR Global Trading Limited, the exchange’s parent company, was hit with a $100 million fine and sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation.

The rationale behind Trump's decision to pardon the BitMEX founders remains unclear, particularly given that the three had already served their sentences and faced no ongoing incarceration. The move adds yet another layer to Trump’s unpredictable approach to presidential clemency and underscores the complex intersection of politics, finance, and crypto regulation in the United States.

This article has been refined and enhanced by ChatGPT.