March 28 (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump has

pardoned the three co-founders of cryptocurrency exchange

BitMEX, a White House official said on Friday.

In addition, former employee Gregory Dwyer and an entity

owning and operating the crypto exchange received full and

unconditional pardons, BitMEX confirmed in an emailed statement

to Reuters.

CNBC was the first to report that on Thursday, Trump granted

pardons to co-founders Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes and Samuel

Reed, who had pleaded guilty in 2022 to violating the Bank

Secrecy Act, for failing to maintain anti-money laundering and

know-your-customer programs.

The pardons come at a time of optimism in the crypto

industry about looser regulation under Trump, who courted crypto

donors during his campaign and promised support.

Prosecutors had accused BitMEX and founders Delo, Hayes and

Reed of willfully violating the Bank Secrecy Act between 2015

and 2020 by failing to adopt anti-money-laundering and "know

your customer" programs, Reuters reported in January.

Also pardoned this week by Trump was Trevor Milton, the

founder of bankrupt electric and hydrogen-powered truckmaker

Nikola ( NKLAQ ), who had been convicted of fraud.