Trump exonerates BitMEX co-founder in landmark anti-money laundering case

President Donald Trump issued full pardons to the three co-founders of crypto exchange BitMEX on March 27, clearing their names years after they admitted to violating US anti-money laundering laws, CNBC reported.

Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, who launched BitMEX in 2014, had each pleaded guilty to charges under the Bank Secrecy Act.

Pardons

Prosecutors alleged they allowed US customers to trade on the platform without proper identity checks, turning the exchange into what authorities called a hub for illicit financial activity.

In 2022, the three co-founders received probation sentences and collectively paid tens of millions in fines to resolve both criminal and civil enforcement actions.

Hayes, the former CEO, served six months under home confinement. Delo, the firm’s former strategy chief, was sentenced to 30 months of probation, while Reed, who served as CTO, received an 18-month term of probation.

Trump’s pardons arrived just over three months after BitMEX itself agreed to pay $100 million to settle allegations that it failed to maintain required compliance programs for detecting and preventing money laundering.

Federal prosecutors had accused the company’s leadership of ignoring legal obligations while continuing to court business from American traders. According to court filings, BitMEX allowed users to register with only an email address and failed to enforce its stated ban on U.S. customers.

In a statement after the pardon was announced, Delo said the charges stemmed from what he called an outdated law and a politicized enforcement effort. He described the pardons as a “vindication” and claimed the trio should never have been prosecuted.

Delo:

“We were wrongfully made to serve as an example.”

Hayes, Delo and Reed had each paid $10 million in criminal fines as part of their plea deals, in addition to a $30 million civil penalty imposed by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The White House has not issued a formal comment on the pardons.

BitMEX Case

Founded in 2014, BitMEX became one of the earliest and most influential derivatives exchanges in the crypto industry, offering users high-leverage trading products with minimal registration requirements.

At its peak, the exchange processed billions in daily volume, attracting users worldwide, including those in the United States.

Federal authorities began investigating BitMEX as part of a broader crackdown on offshore platforms catering to American traders without proper compliance programs.

In 2020, the US Department of Justice and the CFTC filed parallel actions against the exchange and its founders. Prosecutors accused the executives of knowingly evading US regulations and failing to establish even rudimentary systems to detect or prevent money laundering.

The case marked one of the first times the federal government pursued criminal penalties against crypto exchange operators, setting a precedent for future enforcement actions in the digital asset space.