{"id":29374,"date":"2025-03-28T22:19:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-28T22:19:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/?p=29374"},"modified":"2025-03-28T22:19:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-28T22:19:15","slug":"arthur-hayes-other-bitmex-executives-receive-full-pardons-from-president-trump","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/arthur-hayes-other-bitmex-executives-receive-full-pardons-from-president-trump\/","title":{"rendered":"Arthur Hayes &#038; Other BitMEX Executives Receive Full Pardons from President Trump"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>TLDR<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>President Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed<\/li>\n<li>The three executives had pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement proper KYC\/AML measures<\/li>\n<li>Hayes received 2 years probation, Delo 30 months, and Reed 18 months, plus $10 million fines each<\/li>\n<li>BitMEX was fined $100 million in 2021 for regulatory violations<\/li>\n<li>The pardons were signed Thursday (March 27, 2025) but not immediately publicized<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr \/>\n<p>President Donald Trump <a href=\"https:\/\/eu.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2025\/03\/28\/trump-pardons-three-founders-bitmex-cryptocurrency\/82708964007\/\">has pardoned the three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX<\/a> who previously pleaded guilty to violating U.S. anti-money laundering laws, the White House confirmed on Friday, March 28.<\/p>\n<p>Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed received full presidential pardons on Thursday, according to a White House official. The pardons were not immediately announced to the public.<\/p>\n<p>The three executives founded BitMEX in 2014, with Hayes serving as CEO. The Seychelles-based platform became a major player in cryptocurrency derivatives trading, focusing on perpetual contracts and futures.<\/p>\n<p>In October 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the co-founders with violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Prosecutors claimed BitMEX advertised itself as a place where customers could trade virtually anonymously.<\/p>\n<p>The platform allegedly failed to implement basic know-your-customer (KYC) protocols. These measures are required by law to prevent money laundering and other illegal financial activities.<\/p>\n<p>All three founders eventually pleaded guilty in 2022. Each agreed to pay a $10 million fine as part of their plea agreements.<\/p>\n<p>Hayes received a sentence of two years probation with six months of home detention. Delo was sentenced to 30 months of probation, while Reed received 18 months of probation.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement released Friday, Delo described the prosecutions as politically motivated.<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;This full and unconditional pardon by President Trump is a vindication of the position we have always held \u2014 that BitMEX, my co-founders and I should never have been charged with a criminal offense through an obscure, antiquated law,&#8221; he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Delo further claimed the company was &#8220;wrongfully made to serve as an example, sacrificed for political reasons and used to send inconsistent regulatory signals.&#8221; He expressed gratitude to the president for granting the pardons.<\/p>\n<p>Hayes posted a brief note on social media simply saying &#8220;thank you&#8221; to Trump after the news broke.<\/p>\n<p>The cryptocurrency exchange itself was ordered to pay $100 million in penalties in 2021. The fine came from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and other regulations.<\/p>\n<p>Federal prosecutors had argued during the case that cryptocurrency companies serve as critical gatekeepers in financial markets. They claimed the BitMEX founders &#8220;allowed BitMEX to operate as a platform in the shadows of the financial markets.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Court records revealed that BitMEX&#8217;s website had advertised that<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>&#8220;no real name or other advanced verification is required on BitMEX.&#8221; Reed had written in a 2015 email that one of BitMEX&#8217;s advantages included &#8220;the freedom to create an account without onerous <a href=\"https:\/\/moneycheck.com\/best-no-kyc-casinos\/\">KYC requirements.&#8221;<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>In May 2018, Reed was reportedly notified that BitMEX was being used to launder proceeds from a cryptocurrency hack. However, neither Reed nor the company filed the required suspicious activity report with the Treasury Department.<\/p>\n<p>The pardons come shortly after Trump granted clemency to Trevor Milton, the former CEO of Nikola Motors. Milton had been convicted of fraud in 2022.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blockonomi.com\/ross-ulbricht-released-questions-remain-about-unclaimed-silk-road-bitcoin\/\">In January, Trump also pardoned Ross Ulbricht<\/a>, the creator of Silk Road marketplace. Ulbricht had been serving a double life sentence plus 40 years with no possibility of parole.<\/p>\n<p>Reports indicate that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been seeking his own pardon from the Trump administration. Bankman-Fried was convicted of fraud related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.<\/p>\n<p>Former Binance CEO Changpeng &#8220;CZ&#8221; Zhao, who pleaded guilty to the same charge as Hayes and served four months in prison last year, has denied seeking a pardon.<\/p>\n<p>However, Zhao noted in a social media post that &#8220;no felon would mind a pardon, especially being the only one in US history who was ever sentenced to prison for a single BSA charge.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The BitMEX co-founders&#8217; leadership roles at the company ended in 2020 due to the legal complications. Vivien Khoo stepped in as interim CEO after their departure from the company.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>TLDR President Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed The three executives had pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to implement proper KYC\/AML measures Hayes received 2 years probation, Delo 30 months, and Reed 18 months, plus $10 million fines each BitMEX was fined $100 million in<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9001,"featured_media":26931,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"iawp_total_views":88,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28166,28149],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-29374","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-politics","8":"category-regulation"},"wppr_data":{"cwp_meta_box_check":"No"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v25.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Arthur Hayes &amp; 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