- Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders, a former employee, and the operating entity, clearing them of BSA-related charges.
- The pardons have sparked speculation over whether figures like Sam Bankman-Fried or Roger Ver might also receive pardons in the future.
US President Donald Trump has pardoned the three co-founders of popular cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, according to a report from CNBC.
Plus, the decision also includes a full and unconditional pardon for former employee Gregory Dwyer and the entity that operates the platform, according to a BitMEX statement emailed to Reuters.
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Handing Out Pardons
Our story starts in 2014, when the three BitMEX co-founders launched the Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange, with Hayes serving as the CEO. Over time, BitMEX rose to prominence as a major platform for crypto derivatives trading, particularly perpetual contracts and futures.
But as legal issues mounted, all three pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) protocols between 2015 and 2020.
Needless to say, Trump’s decision has ignited speculation about a potential pardon for Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced FTX and Alameda Research founder who scammed billions of dollars from investors worldwide.
On March 29, CNBC’s “Mad Money” host Jim Cramer sparked debate by asking on X whether Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) could be “the next to see daylight”. The comment drew attention to Polymarket, a crypto-focused prediction platform where users can wager on a question currently titled “Who Will Trump Pardon in the First 100 Days?”
What Are the Chances?
So far, Bankman-Fried has a modest 4% chance of receiving a pardon, while Roger Ver, a widely recognised Bitcoin investor and oftentimes called Bitcoin Jesus, sits slightly higher at 5%. Ver has been charged with tax evasion and claims to be the victim of “political targeting” due to his outspoken support of cryptocurrency.
But do SBF or Ver have any chance of getting pardoned? Well, only time will tell. Recall that, shortly after taking office, Trump granted a separate high-profile pardon to Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road marketplace.
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Ulbricht had been serving a double life sentence plus 40 years without parole since his 2015 conviction on charges including drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking.
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