Trump Pardons Former BitMEX Executives Including Arthur Hayes

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes has received a full pardon from U.S. President Donald Trump, alongside BitMEX co-founders Samuel Reed and Benjamin Delo, according to a White House official. The pardons, first reported by CNBC, were signed Thursday.

In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice charged the trio and early employee Gregory Dwyer with violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), alleging that BitMEX allowed users to trade anonymously without providing required know-your-customer (KYC) information. All four eventually pleaded guilty and received probationary sentences. Hayes was sentenced to two years of probation, Delo to 30 months, Reed to 18 months, and Dwyer to 12 months.

BitMEX also pleaded guilty last year and separately paid a $100 million fine to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2021 for violating the Commodity Exchange Act and other regulations.

In a statement, Delo said they were “wrongfully targeted” and claimed the charges were politically motivated. “This full and unconditional pardon by President Trump is a vindication of the position we have always held — that BitMEX, my co-founders and I should never have been charged,” he said.

The pardons follow Trump's recent clemency for Nikola Motors founder Trevor Milton and Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. The moves have sparked speculation around other high-profile figures in crypto, including Sam Bankman-Fried, who recently gave an unauthorized jailhouse interview. Former Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who served four months for a similar BSA charge, denied seeking a pardon but noted on X that “no felon would mind a pardon.”

Trump’s actions signal a controversial yet growing intersection between crypto and U.S. politics as the 2024 election approaches.