U.S. President Donald Trump has pardoned Arthur Hayes, the ex-CEO of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, along with his co-founders Samuel Reed and Benjamin Delo, senior employee Greg Dwyer, and the company’s operating entity, HDR Global Trading. The White House confirmed the pardons on Friday, which were signed by Trump on Thursday.
The pardon comes after the Department of Justice (DOJ) charged BitMEX, its founders, and Dwyer in 2020 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA). Prosecutors accused the exchange of allowing users to trade anonymously without proper know-your-customer (KYC) protocols. All four individuals pleaded guilty and received fines and probationary sentences. Hayes was sentenced to two years of probation, Delo to 30 months, Reed to 18 months, and Dwyer to 12 months.
Delo expressed gratitude for the pardon, stating it vindicated their stance that they were “wrongfully targeted” under an outdated law. He claimed BitMEX’s success made it a political scapegoat for inconsistent regulatory signals. Hayes, meanwhile, simply tweeted “thank you” on X (formerly Twitter).
Separately, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission fined BitMEX $100 million in 2021 for violations of the Commodity Exchange Act and other regulations. This penalty was unrelated to the DOJ settlements.
The BitMEX pardons follow Trump’s recent decision to pardon Trevor Milton, the former Nikola Motors CEO convicted of fraud, and Ross Ulbricht, the creator of Silk Road serving a life sentence. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly seeking a similar pardon, while ex-Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, who served time for a BSA violation, has denied pursuing one, though he acknowledged no felon would reject such an offer.
This latest move underscores Trump’s willingness to extend clemency to high-profile figures in the crypto and tech industries, reigniting debates over accountability and justice in financial crimes.