Trump's 2025 Crypto Pardons Mark Shift in U.S. Enforcement Policy
In 2025, President Trump granted a series of high-profile pardons to figures involved in the cryptocurrency industry, signaling a significant shift in the U.S. federal approach to crypto enforcement.
In January 2025, Ross Ulbricht, founder of the Silk Road dark web marketplace, was granted a full pardon. Ulbricht had been serving two life terms for charges including money laundering and narcotics trafficking linked to Bitcoin.
In March 2025, Trump pardoned BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, along with early employee Greg Dwyer. All had pled guilty in 2022 to Bank Secrecy Act violations related to insufficient anti-money laundering controls. Their sentences included probation and financial penalties, and the pardons cleared their felony records.
October 2025 saw the pardon of Binance founder Changpeng Zhao, who had pleaded guilty in 2023 to AML violations and served a four-month prison term in 2024.
The White House framed these pardons as an end to the Biden administration's crypto crackdown, signaling a more lenient federal posture toward cryptocurrency enforcement moving forward.
However, these actions were met with criticism. Critics argued that the pardons reflected political loyalty and potential ties to Trump family ventures. Notable opposing voices included Senators Elizabeth Warren and Chris Murphy.
The pardons not only marked a notable shift in U.S. crypto enforcement policies in 2025 but also raised questions about the future regulatory landscape and enforcement strategies heading into 2026.
