President Trump has issued pardons to the three founders of BitMEX who pleaded guilty to money laundering charges in 2022. Unlike the case of Ross Ulbricht, there has been no popular movement to grant these pardons, which has led to confusion in the community.
Since the pardon was issued, the odds of Sam Bankman-Fried's Polymarket pardon have skyrocketed. However, this has created anxiety due to the scams and frauds that are rampant in cryptocurrencies today.
Trump Pardons BitMEX Founder
BitMEX is a centralized exchange with a long history in the cryptocurrency space. However, it has faced several controversies. In 2020, it was sued in the United States for money laundering .
Founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin DeLo and Samuel Reed pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act , but President Trump pardoned all three .
Trump has not publicly announced these pardons. The recipients have not yet made any public statements about them. They received only fines, suspended sentences, and house arrest, and were all completely free at the time. Arthur Hayes remains an influential commentator . However, there is no further connection to BitMEX.
To say this move was unexpected would be an understatement. Trump has issued other cryptocurrency-related pardons, such as that of Ross Ulbricht .
However, Ulbricht’s case was a famous one in the community. There were no calls to issue a BitMEX pardon, especially considering the founders’ light sentences.
In short, the reaction from most of the crypto space has been negative. Even crypto supporters in the government at the time, such as “Crypto Mom” Hester Pierce, supported the BitMEX arrests . Money laundering is not a popular activity . The crypto community is having a hard time finding a clear motive for Trump’s pardon.
“Oh my goodness, everything is for sale. I think he’s going to pardon Sam Bankman-Fried.” – Author Jacob Silverman
Over the past few months, FTX mainstay Sam Bankman-Fried and his family have been asking President Trump for a pardon . The community has viewed this as a low possibility, especially since Bankman-Fried directly opposed Trump in the 2020 election. Since the BitMEX pardon, Bankman-Fried’s polymarket odds have skyrocketed:
In short, this is unlikely to be positive for the market. The cryptocurrency industry is facing an unprecedented wave of fraud . Some commentators are concerned that this could undermine industry confidence. If Trump continues to issue pardons without a clear reason, it could encourage bad actors.
