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.
The three founding members of the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to violations under the Bank Secrecy Act in 2022 for not operating an anti money laundering program. To settle the charges, each founder agreed to pay an additional $10 million.
"Thank you," Hayes posted on X Friday afternoon, tagging the official President of the United States account.
You are welcome @POTUS
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) March 28, 2025
Decrypt BitMEX founders could not be reached immediately, and BitMEX didn’t respond immediately to any questions.
In January of this year, Manhattan Federal Judge John G. Koeltl ruled that the exchange must pay $100 Million to settle all violations between 2015 and 2021. Exchange said they were happy with the results.
The regulators initially claimed BitMEX was allowing U.S. users to access its exchange, without verifying the identities of those clients.
BitMEX has paid $100 Million in Civil Penalties to the U.S. Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) after it was alleged by FinCEN that BitMEX’s leadership had “altered U.S. customers’ information” so as to disguise the location of their true customer.
President Trump campaigned with a pro-business agenda, and spoke frequently about the tech and crypto spheres—even once attending a Bitcoin conference.
Since the Trump Administration took office, a number of crypto companies that were under investigation or facing charges have been cleared. Crypto-friendly regulators are now in place in both the Trump Administration as well as financial watchdogs.
Editor's note: This story was updated after publication with additional details.
