Trump grants clemency to BitMEX trio for financial crime convictions
Trump grants clemency to BitMEX trio
In a move drawing scrutiny from legal experts and financial regulators, President Donald J. Trump granted clemency Thursday to three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, all of whom had pleaded guilty to federal charges related to money laundering and banking violations.
Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed were convicted between 2022 and 2023 for failing to implement legally required anti-money laundering protocols on their platform, according to Crypto News.
Prosecutors described BitMEX as a “money laundering platform,” and Reed, who served as the company’s CTO, admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He agreed to pay a $10 million fine as part of his plea deal.
The pardons were announced the same day Trevor Milton, the former CEO of electric truck company Nikola, received clemency for a separate securities fraud conviction.
A high-profile case in crypto enforcement
BitMEX, once among the largest crypto derivatives exchanges in the world, faced escalating legal pressure from U.S. regulators over its compliance failures. In January, a federal court ordered HDR Global Trading Limited, BitMEX’s parent company, to pay $100 million in penalties and serve a two-year unsupervised probation.
Despite BitMEX’s claims of exiting the U.S. market in 2020, authorities alleged that the firm continued to serve American customers covertly.
The company has reportedly explored a sale since late 2024, enlisting Broadhaven Capital Partners to assist in finding a buyer.
Trump’s pardons of the BitMEX founders are expected to ignite renewed debate over regulatory standards in the crypto industry, and whether executive-level accountability can be reconciled with the political tides influencing federal enforcement.
Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz is championing Texas as a global hub for Bitcoin innovation in the U.S., aligning the state’s resources with the growing digital asset industry. With three Bitcoin mining facilities in West Texas, Cruz is merging advocacy with action.
