U.S. President Donald Trump has granted pardons to the three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX—Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed—along with former employee Gregory Dwyer and the entity operating the exchange. The decision, confirmed by a White House official on Friday and by BitMEX itself, comes after the co-founders pleaded guilty in 2022 for failing to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations under the Bank Secrecy Act.
The pardons are viewed as a positive development for the crypto industry, particularly as optimism grows regarding looser regulations under Trump. Throughout his campaign, Trump courted crypto donors and pledged support for the sector. The BitMEX founders had faced accusations of willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act between 2015 and 2020 by not adopting proper anti-money-laundering and “know your customer” (KYC) programs.
In addition to the BitMEX pardons, Trump also pardoned Trevor Milton, the founder of the bankrupt electric truck company Nikola, who was convicted of fraud.
