Ben Delo
- Status of the full grant
- Pardons granted
- Clemency
- Pardon · Mar 27, 2025
- District
- Southern District of New York
- The case
- Violating the Bank Secrecy Act: the BitMEX co-founder and chief operating officer pleaded guilty to one count of failing to maintain anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer programs at the exchange.
WHAT THE RECORD SHOWS
Delo co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and was its chief operating officer and chief strategy officer. He pleaded guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act over the exchange's failure to maintain anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer programs, CNBC reported. Prosecutors accused the men of effectively operating BitMEX as a “money laundering platform” whose purported withdrawal from the U.S. market was “a sham,” according to the same report.
The Justice Department's clemency list, which names him Benjamin Delo, records a sentence of 30 months' probation imposed June 15, 2022 in the Southern District of New York, and records no fine. CNBC reported that the founders were ordered to pay civil fines totaling $30 million related to a Commodity Futures Trading Commission lawsuit; the compiled clemency record lists a $10 million fine alongside his sentence, citing Reuters.
The Justice Department dates the pardon March 27, 2025, one of six pardons its list records that day, alongside co-founders Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed, former business development chief Gregory Dwyer, the company HDR Global Trading Limited and Trevor Milton. No lobbyist or donation is documented in the sources cited for this grant.
RESPONSE
Delo said in a statement that the Justice Department “wrongfully targeted BitMEX and its co-founders” and that the pardon was “a vindication of the position we have always held – that BitMEX, my co-founders and I should never have been charged with a criminal offense through an obscure, antiquated law.” He added that he was “sincerely grateful to the President for granting this pardon to me and my co-founders,” CNBC reported.
Correction to the shared entry, BitMEX founders and HDR Global Trading. An earlier version said the grants came the same day as the Milton pardon and during the launch period of Trump-family crypto ventures. The same-day timing is from the Justice Department list; the earlier wording implied a connection the cited sources do not establish. Corrected September 18, 2026. Note added September 23, 2026.
SOURCES FOR THE FULL GRANT
- Wikipedia: List of people granted executive clemency in the second Trump presidency ↗
- U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Pardon Attorney: Clemency grants by President Donald J. Trump (2025-present) ↗
- NBC Los Angeles (CNBC): Trump pardons three BitMEX crypto exchange co-founders, and ex-employee ↗
This grant is recorded in full at BitMEX founders and HDR Global Trading, which carries the shared record and every source cited here. A connection recorded here is not proof that it bought the outcome. How entries are labeled · Submit a correction or response · Download the ledger
