4 Crypto Founders Trump Pardoned and 3 Who May Be Next
President Donald Trump made history when he pardoned a corporation, the Mahe, Seychelles-based BitMEX. The crypto exchange has been operating since 2014.
In addition to pardoning it of its money laundering conviction following a guilty plea in July 2024, the president added its three founders and a senior employee.
Trump signed the pardons without publicizing them, so the BitMEX pardons were not as widely anticipated as that of Ross Ulbricht in January. While campaigning for reelection, the president pledged at the Libertarian Convention in May 2024 to pardon the Silk Road founder.
Now crypto communities are wondering if the president will grant some other founders clemency. They include some big names like FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Binance founder Changpeng Zhao.
Here are four cryptocurrency founders Trump just pardoned in March and three more that might follow soon.
BitMEX pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act of 1970 by failing to police its exchange for money laundering properly. As a result, the US Dept. of Justice announced a $100 million fine for BitMEX on Jan. 15.
Furthermore, the DOJ put the exchange’s parent company on two years of probation. U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky said the fine sends a message that consequences for violating anti-money laundering policies will be severe.
In addition to BitMEX’s conviction, the US government previously found its founder, Arthur Hayes, guilty of his company’s violations. After starting his exchange, Hayes became the youngest African American billionaire in history.
In May 2022, the government sentenced Hayes to six months in supervised home detention and two years of probation. Following his pardon in March, Hayes thanked the president in a post on X. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson congratulated the Bitcoin exchange founder.
In his first blog update since the pardon, Hayes wrote a lengthy and technical critique of Trump’s trade wars using tariffs on imports.
After the pardons, BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo released a note stating the DOJ “wrongfully targeted BitMEX and its co-founders.” Delo also thanked Trump for the pardons:
“This full and unconditional pardon by President Trump is 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.”
Delo asserted regulators pressed the case against his exchange for political reasons:
“As the most successful crypto exchange of its kind, we were wrongfully made to serve as an example, sacrificed for political reasons and used to send inconsistent regulatory signals.”
A British national, Delo is giving away half of his crypto fortune to charitable causes:
“A legal wrong has been righted today and despite the distress I have been through over the past few years I’m pleased to have cleared my name and to be able to continue my life and philanthropic work without the burden of an unfounded conviction.”
BitMEX CTO Samuel Reed also got a pardon from Mr. Trump. He pled guilty along with his business partners to violating anti-money laundering and Know Your Customer regulations in Mar. 2022.
As a result, he got slapped with a $10 million fine while facing down the possibility of five years in prison. He wound up getting 18 months of probation instead.
In addition, the exchange’s former Head of Business Development, Gregory Dwyer, received a pardon for his Bank Secrecy Act conviction along with the others. He agreed to pay a fine of $150,000.
BitMEX has stayed busy in the meantime, building its extraordinary reputation for security. Last November, the exchange marked ten years as the crypto exchange with the longest streak of losing zero customers’ funds to hacks. This month, BitMEX boosted staking rewards for BMEX by 50%.
The pardons prompted CNBC’s Jim Cramer to wonder out loud if Trump might spring Sam Bankman-Fried from a 25-year prison sentence. His financial news site, TheStreet, reported :
“As Trump’s pardons stir debate across the crypto world, speculation grows over who could be next — with names like SBF, CZ, and Roger Ver dividing the prediction markets.”
Ross Ulbricht founded the legendary Silk Road exchange under the screen name Dread Pirate Roberts in 2011. The “dark web” exchange allowed users to buy and sell illegal items and services like scheduled drugs and assassin services and pay vendors using Bitcoin.
While serving a life sentence for criminal enterprise, drug trafficking, money laundering, and computer hacking, Trump pardoned him with overwhelming support for the move from the cryptocurrency community.
The day Trump pardoned him , the odds on PolyMarket rose to 93%.
At his sentencing hearing, Ulbricht said, “I wanted to empower people to make choices in their lives and have privacy and anonymity.” He’s set to share his story in a new documentary.
The FTX exchange founder, known online as SBF, is serving a 25-year sentence for wire fraud and financial fraud that surfaced during the crypto market crash in 2022.
In January, Bloomberg reported that SBF’s parents are seeking a pardon from the president. Once a big donor to the Democratic Party, SBF has made a hard right pivot.
He bashed SDNY Judge Kaplan in a February New York Sun interview by telephone, the judge who handed Trump a loss in a salacious civil trial.
Then turned around in March and gave a bombshell prison interview to Tucker Carlson that the jail administrators did not authorize.
Ultra-early Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) investor Roger Ver has been in detention in Spain since Apr. 2024, fighting extradition to the US on charges of tax evasion.
Because of his status as a very early Bitcoin and crypto promoter, the media nicknamed Ver Bitcoin Jesus. In Feb. 2024, a grand jury in California indicted Ver for “three counts of mail fraud, two counts of tax evasion, and three counts of subscription to a false tax return.”
He reached out in January to President Trump for a pardon, posting on X:
“Mr. President, I am an American, and I need your help. Only you, with your commitment to justice, can save me @realDonaldTrump.”
Ross Ulbricht came to his defense in February in an X post suggesting he should just be allowed to pay any taxes owed and be free again.
CZ, the software engineer and business mastermind behind the globally class-leading crypto exchange Binance, is already out of jail after a four-month stint in California last year. He has denied rumors of any business involvement with the Trump crypto enterprises.
But the BitMEX pardons added fuel to the fire of rumors that Trump may pardon Zhao next. That would allow him to get back to a leadership role at Binance.
Ultra In-Depth Analysis: Will $BABY Go Bullish or Bearish?
The $BABY token, native to BabySwap, is a decentralized exchange (DEX) and AMM on the BNB Chain. It aims to provide a child-friendly DeFi experience for new users while supporting yield farming, NFTs, and gamified staking.
This deep-dive explores:
What Makes $BABY Unique?
Bullish Catalysts That Could Pump $BABY
Bearish Factors That Could Tank $BABY
Price Prediction: Best/Worst-Case Outcomes
Smart Investment Strategy
1. What Sets $BABY Apart?
The BabySwap Edge
DEX Focused on New Crypto Users – Offers a simple UI, NFT integration, and onboarding guides.
Dual Utility Token – $BABY is used for governance, staking, and farming rewards.
Built on BNB Chain – Fast, cheap transactions support micro-trading and low-fee yield farming.
NFTs & Gamified Features – BabySwap combines DeFi + NFT experiences to attract Gen Z users.
Ecosystem Highlights
Baby Planet – Metaverse integration with NFT characters.
IDO Launchpad – Hosts new projects and tokens.
Cross-chain Expansions (planned) – Potential integration with Ethereum & Layer 2s.
If BabySwap becomes a gateway for the next wave of retail investors, $BABY could become a major DEX token alongside PancakeSwap ($CAKE).
2. Bullish Case: What Could Send $BABY Mooning?
🚀 Growth Catalyst #1: NFT + DeFi Combo
BabySwap’s gamified NFTs increase engagement vs. traditional DEXs.
NFT farming and character upgrades may trigger sticky user retention.
🚀 Growth Catalyst #2: Next BNB Ecosystem Hype Cycle
If BNB Chain gets a revival (as in previous bull runs), $BABY could ride the wave.
Low gas fees + meme culture could bring a new generation of users.
🚀 Growth Catalyst #3: DEX Revenue Sharing + Buybacks
Protocol upgrades that burn or redistribute $BABY could improve tokenomics.
If trading volume grows, staking rewards might increase.
🚀 Growth Catalyst #4: Viral Memecoin Narrative
If $BABY pivots toward meme coin branding, it could catch fire like BabyDoge or PEPE.
Meme-fueled alt seasons historically create 10-50x pumps.
3. Bearish Risks: Why $BABY Could Crash
⚠️ Risk #1: Stiff DEX Competition
PancakeSwap dominates BNB Chain. Without major differentiators, $BABY might stagnate.
Multichain DEXs (like SushiSwap or THORChain) could outpace BabySwap.
⚠️ Risk #2: Weak Tokenomics & Inflation
Excessive $BABY emissions via yield farming could lead to hyperinflation.
Without strong burn mechanisms, token value could bleed.
⚠️ Risk #3: Lack of Liquidity + Volume
BabySwap’s current daily volume is low—hard to attract whales or institutions.
Thin liquidity could cause high slippage and volatility.
⚠️ Risk #4: Bear Market or BNB Collapse
If BNB or Binance face regulatory pressure, BNB Chain assets (like $BABY) could tank 70-90%.
BabySwap is heavily dependent on the BNB Chain ecosystem.
4. Price Forecast: Bull vs. Bear Paths
2025 Price Range:
Bullish: $0.015–$0.03
Neutral: $0.002–$0.005
Bearish: Below $0.001
5. Should You Invest in $BABY?
✅ Buy If:
You believe in BNB Chain’s long-term DeFi recovery.
You’re bullish on NFT/DeFi hybrids and gamification.
You’re looking for low market cap moonshot plays.
❌ Avoid If:
You want high liquidity and volume right now.
You’re risk-averse or unsure about BabySwap’s fundamentals.
You don’t want to bet on BNB Chain’s future.
🟡 Investment Strategy:
DCA with strict position sizing (e.g., 1-3% of portfolio).
Watch for:
Protocol upgrades or burns
BNB Chain catalysts
Viral Twitter/NFT integrations
Final Verdict: Microcap Gamble with Meme-Boosted Potential
Bull Case: $BABY becomes a go-to gamified DEX → 10x+ returns.
Bear Case: Stays obscure or gets outcompeted → fades below $0.001.
Recommendation: Worth a small bet only if you’re okay with high risk and big swings. Treat it as a speculative play, not a core position.
Want a version like this for another $BABY token, or should I tweak this based on your portfolio goals?