Summary:
In what may be a first in American history, President Trump just expanded the presidential pardon power to include corporations.
Corporations are artificial legal fictions designed to maximize shareholder wealth. Nonetheless, they can theoretically commit crimes and be indicted for them. According to a 1999 memorandum from the Justice Department, the “important public benefits” of prosecuting corporations include “deterrence on a massive scale,” particularly for “crimes that carry with them a substantial risk of public harm,” such as “financial frauds.”
Such public benefits now fall prey to the whims of the president with his pardon of a cryptocurrency company that smacks of political corruption.
On Friday, Trump issued full and unconditional pardons to four individuals and a related cryptocurrency exchange, BitMEX.
BitMEX solicits and takes orders for trades in derivatives tied to the value of cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin. Last summer, BitMEX entered a guilty plea in a Manhattan federal court for violating the Bank Secrecy Act for having operated without a legitimate anti-money laundering program. Prior to August 2020, customers could register to trade with BitMEX anonymously, providing only verified email addresses. The latest in politics and policy. Direct to your inbox. Sign up for the Opinion newsletter
On Jan. 15, 2025, BitMEX was criminally fined $100 million in connection with its guilty plea, which was on top of $130 million in civil penalties previously imposed by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission. At sentencing, the judge noted that BitMEX, which is incorporated in the Seychelles, had claimed not to operate in the U.S. for several years even though U.S. customers comprised a large share of its business.
The longer this goes on, the more I think about Flying Squid, and think he was right to gtfo of dodge
Sadly, most folks aren't in a position to gtfo of dodge, as much as we would like to.
Most folks aren't willing* to gtfo of dodge.
Seriously, I've had this conversation on Lemmy so many times. Every so often someone has a disability or is broke poor with no degree, but the other times people say things like "family".
You don't think FlyingSquid had a family? I've immigrated twice. You think I don't have a family?
Most people who want to go can go. But most people don't actually want to go.
I hate my family, only have a weak associates degree, and have fucking cancer.
Also FlyingSquid literally left for the sake of their family, a trans child who needed out of the USA