President Trump Grants Pardon to BitMEX Founders Arthur Hayes, Delo, and Reed
U.S. President Donald Trump pardoned Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX, along with co-founders Samuel Reed and Benjamin Delo. This action follows charges from the U.S. Department of Justice for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) in 2020, where BitMEX was accused of allowing customer anonymity without basic know-your-customer (KYC) checks.
Key points:
- All three co-founders pleaded guilty and received probationary sentences: Hayes (2 years), Delo (30 months), Reed (18 months), and Gregory Dwyer (12 months).
- BitMEX also faced a $100 million penalty from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for violations related to the Commodity Exchange Act in 2021.
- The pardons were announced shortly after Trump's pardon of Trevor Milton, former CEO of Nikola Motors.
- Former Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao, who served time for similar charges, denied seeking a pardon but acknowledged the potential benefit of one.