- Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed for past money laundering charges.
- The DOJ had accused the trio of running BitMEX as a money laundering platform while pretending to exit the U.S. market.
- Former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton was also pardoned after his securities fraud conviction.
In a move that’s already setting off waves across the crypto world, Donald Trump has officially pardoned the three co-founders of BitMEX—Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed—according to sources who spoke with CNBC.
The trio had all previously pled guilty to federal charges tied to money laundering and failure to enforce proper compliance on the BitMEX platform. Basically, prosecutors said they ran the exchange like a free-for-all, ignoring U.S. laws and allowing shady money to flow through unchecked.
BitMEX Case Had Been a Big Deal for Regulators
Samuel Reed, for example, pled guilty in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and agreed to pay a $10 million fine. At the time, the feds said BitMEX’s so-called “withdrawal” from the U.S. market was a complete façade—that the company never actually stopped serving American users.
They didn’t hold back. The DOJ straight-up called the exchange a “money laundering platform.”
Trump Quietly Signed Off on the Pardons Thursday
The pardons came without much fanfare—just a quick announcement Thursday, no press conference, no big speech. But it wasn’t just the BitMEX crew that got the Trump treatment.
Trevor Milton, the ex-CEO of electric truck startup Nikola, also revealed he’d been pardoned. Milton had been convicted of securities fraud, sentenced to four years, but was still free on appeal. Trump wiped that slate clean, too.
So yeah—Thursday turned into a full-on white-collar redemption tour courtesy of 45.
