Three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX—Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed—were pardoned by President Trump on Friday, according to a report from CNBC.
All three founders pled guilty in 2022 to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to operate an anti-money laundering program at the cryptocurrency exchange. Each founder also agreed to pay a $10 million fine to settle the charges.
"Thank you," Hayes posted on X Friday afternoon, tagging the official President of the United States account.
Thank you @POTUS
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) March 28, 2025
Decrypt could not immediately reach BitMEX’s founders, and BitMEX did not immediately respond to questions.
Most recently, in January, Manhattan federal judge Judge John G. Koeltl ordered the exchange to pay $100 million to settle violations that took place between 2015 and 2020. The exchange said it was happy with the outcome.
Crypto Exchange BitMEX Hit With $100 Million Fine for US Money-Laundering Violations
BitMEX was hit with a $100 million fine Wednesday by Manhattan federal judge Judge John G. Koeltl—the latest verdict against the cryptocurrency exchange in the years-long saga over money-laundering violations in the United States. The exchange's attorneys had argued that an earlier $110 million fine and previous guilty pleas were sufficient punishment for the violations that took place between 2015 and 2020, but Koeltl disagreed. Law360 first reported the news. Founders Arthur Hayes and Benjamin...
Regulators alleged initially that BitMEX had allowed U.S. clients to use its exchange without verifying their identities.
In 2021, BitMEX paid $100 million in civil penalties after the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, alleged that the exchange’s senior leadership “altered U.S. customer information to hide the customer’s true location.”
Trump's SEC Is Ending Crypto Lawsuits and Investigations—These Are the Biggest
The momentum has shifted in the yearslong battle between top crypto companies and protocols and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission under the new Trump administration. The regulator, which now has a crypto task force led by longtime industry advocate Hester Peirce, is moving away from what Pierce and others have called “regulation by enforcement” to less hostile engagements with crypto. Thus far, those words have rung true with the SEC recently backing away from fights with multiple to...
President Trump campaigned with a pro-business agenda, and spoke frequently about the tech and crypto spheres—even once attending a Bitcoin conference.
A number of top crypto companies have had charges against them or investigations dropped since the new commander in chief took office, and crypto-friendly regulators have taken positions in the Trump Administration and at financial watchdogs.
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
