Trump benåder BitMEX-grunnleggerne og sender en stor melding til kryptoindustrien

Former President Donald Trump has pardoned the co-founders of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed. This move highlights Trump’s new stance on crypto regulation after years of legal battles.

In a surprising yet unsurprising move, former President Donald Trump has officially pardoned the three co-founders of BitMEX, one of the most notorious crypto exchanges in the industry. Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed were all charged back in 2020 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act, pleaded guilty in 2022, and were sentenced to probation while each forfeiting $10 million. Now, with a stroke of Trump’s pen, those charges are wiped clean.

The pardon, which was first reported by CNBC, adds yet another chapter to Trump’s increasingly pro-crypto stance since retaking office. In contrast to the Biden administration’s regulatory crackdown on the digital asset space, Trump has been making a concerted effort to woo crypto industry leaders. This latest decision is a major signal that his administration is moving in a different direction from the heavy-handedness of the past few years.

BitMEX: From Crypto King to Courtroom Drama

Photo Credit: Bloomberg

BitMEX was founded in 2014 and quickly became the biggest platform for trading crypto derivatives, pioneering many of the leverage-based trading mechanisms still in use today. One of its biggest innovations was the perpetual swap, a type of derivative that functions like a futures contract but doesn’t have an expiration date. This invention alone made Arthur Hayes and his team legendary in the space.

However, their rapid success came with consequences. In October 2020, during Trump’s first term, federal prosecutors in Manhattan filed charges against the BitMEX founders, accusing them of failing to implement proper anti-money laundering controls. The case became one of the first major criminal enforcement actions against a crypto firm and set a precedent for the future of crypto regulation in the U.S.

Despite their legal troubles, Hayes remained an influential voice in crypto. His family office, Maelstrom, has been actively investing in infrastructure projects aimed at decentralization. With over 657,000 followers on X (formerly Twitter) and frequent media appearances, Hayes continued shaping the crypto conversation even after BitMEX’s downfall.

Crypto's Shifting Regulatory Landscape

The timing of these pardons is no coincidence. Since returning to the White House, Trump has taken a noticeably different approach to crypto regulation than his predecessor. Under Biden, agencies like the SEC, CFTC, and FDIC aggressively pursued crypto firms, launching lawsuits and investigations against major players like Binance, Coinbase, Kraken, and Ripple. That crackdown appears to be easing under Trump’s new administration.

Just this week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) dismissed or paused at least a dozen crypto-related cases. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) also reversed a Biden-era policy requiring banks to get prior approval before engaging in crypto activities. Meanwhile, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) withdrew an advisory that had tightened scrutiny on crypto clearing and trading.

Clearly, Trump’s administration is rolling out the red carpet for crypto firms and signaling that regulation under his watch will be far more business-friendly.

Another Trump Crypto Pardon?

This isn’t the first time Trump has leveraged his presidential powers to make waves in the crypto world. On his first day back in office, he pardoned Ross Ulbricht, the infamous founder of Silk Road, the dark-web marketplace that revolutionized Bitcoin’s early use case (for better or worse). Ulbricht’s pardon was seen as a political move to gain favor with the libertarian-leaning segment of the crypto community.

With this latest round of pardons, speculation is swirling around whether Trump could intervene in another high-profile crypto case: the sentencing of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX. Bankman-Fried is currently serving a 25-year sentence for fraud, but reports suggest his parents have been exploring ways to secure a pardon, even meeting with lawyers and Trump insiders. Given Trump’s willingness to grant high-profile crypto-related pardons, it's not outside the realm of possibility.

What This Means for Crypto

Trump’s pardoning of the BitMEX founders is more than just a legal decision—it’s a massive political and economic statement. It sends a message to the entire crypto industry that the regulatory hostility of the Biden years is being dialed back and that crypto entrepreneurs might find a more welcoming environment under Trump’s leadership.

For better or worse, this move could encourage more crypto founders to push the limits of regulation, knowing that enforcement actions against them might not be as severe under this administration. It also raises questions about what other crypto-related legal battles could be revisited or even reversed.

While critics will argue that the BitMEX founders still broke the law and should have faced consequences, Trump’s supporters in the crypto space see this as a necessary correction to what they believe was government overreach. One thing is certain: this latest move is yet another example of how the intersection of politics and crypto is only getting more complicated.

As the industry reacts, all eyes will be on Trump’s next moves. Will more crypto cases be overturned? Could a Bankman-Fried pardon happen? With Trump’s unpredictable playbook, anything is possible.