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Presidential Clemency Record

Samuel Reed

Pardon

  /   2025–Present

Record at a Glance

Clemency type
Pardon
Presidential term
2025–Present
Federal district
Southern District of New York
Offense
Violation of the Bank Secrecy Act
Sentence
18 months' probation (July 13, 2022)
Current status
BitMEX confirmed that exchange trading ceased September 23, 2026 and account access remained available for withdrawals and wind-down matters. This company announcement does not establish a current individual executive role or alter the separate federal pardon.

Original Case

Samuel Reed co-founded BitMEX and served for years as its chief technology officer. He admitted that the exchange served thousands of U.S. customers while failing to maintain required anti-money-laundering and customer-identification programs. BitMEX filed no suspicious-activity reports between 2014 and September 2020, even after Reed learned of allegations that hacked cryptocurrency proceeds were being laundered through the platform. He pleaded guilty to one Bank Secrecy Act count, agreed to a $10 million criminal fine, and received 18 months of probation.

Clemency

Trump granted Reed a full and unconditional pardon on March 27, 2025. The pardon relieved the remaining federal consequences of his Bank Secrecy Act conviction but did not itself alter separate corporate or regulatory obligations associated with BitMEX.

Trump Connection

Reed was one of three BitMEX founders pardoned by Trump on March 27, 2025, alongside Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo. The public record gives no personal, campaign, or business connection to Trump, identifies no clemency advocate, and offers no individualized White House rationale. The coordinated timing shows that the administration treated the related BitMEX prosecutions as a group.

Since Clemency

  • 2026-09-23 · related company development

    BitMEX confirmed that its exchange stopped trading on September 23, 2026, following a board decision announced in July. Account access continued for withdrawals and wind-down matters.

    Legal Status: Company business development; the announcement does not establish any individual's current management role, a new charge, or a change to the separate presidential pardon.

Sources

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