{{short description|British entrepreneur and programmer}} {{Use dmy dates|date=February 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Ben Delo | image = Ben Delo on stage at The Spectator's "Who's afraid of Bitcoin?" conference.jpg | alt = Delo at ''The Spectator'''s "Who’s afraid of Bitcoin?” conference, October 2018 | caption = Delo in 2018 | birth_name = Ben Peter Delo | birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1984|02|24}} | birth_place = Sheffield, England, UK | death_date = | death_place = | education = Worcester College, Oxford (BA) | known_for = Co-founding BitMEX }} '''Ben Delo''' ({{IPAc-en|d|iː|l|əʊ}}, born 24 February 1984) is a British entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and former executive of BitMEX. In 2022, Delo pleaded guilty to a United States Bank Secrecy Act violation and received a 30-month probation sentence. In 2025, Delo was pardoned by President Donald Trump.
==Early life== Ben Peter Delo<ref name="verified legal name">https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/officers/6nZkZv1vbupvcF5icdY-bOKECb8/appointments</ref> was born in Sheffield, England.<ref name=fall/> According to Delo, he was diagnosed with Asperger's at age 11, at which point he already had an interest in coding and mathematics.<ref name="interview">[https://www.perspectivemedia.com/ben-delo/], ''Perspective''</ref> He was educated at Lord Williams's School and graduated from the University of Oxford in 2005 with a double first-class honours degree in mathematics and computer science.<ref name=fall>{{cite news |url=https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2021/02/the-rise-and-fall-of-bitcoin-billionaire-arthur-hayes |title=The Rise and Fall of Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes |publisher=Vanity Fair |last=Ciralsky |first=Adam |date=4 February 2021 |accessdate=22 December 2022}}</ref>
==Career== After a summer internship at IBM, he was hired by the company.<ref name=interview/> Delo began his career as a software engineer at IBM, where he was named as an inventor on several patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office and the Intellectual Property Office.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://patents.google.com/?inventor=ben+delo,benjamin+delo|title=Google Patents|website=patents.google.com}}</ref> He went on to develop high-frequency trading systems at hedge funds and banks such as GSA Capital and J.P. Morgan, dealing predominantly in kdb+/Q.<ref>{{cite news|url= https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2018-02-01/bored-with-banking-this-former-citi-trader-went-full-crypto|title= Bored With Banking, This Former Citi Trader Went Full Crypto|date= 1 February 2018|work= Bloomberg L.P.}}</ref> After working with IBM, he moved to Hong Kong in 2012 to work for JP Morgan, at which point he developed an interest in buying Bitcoin.<ref name=interview/>
In 2014, Delo met Arthur Hayes and Sam Reed, and they co-founded BitMEX, a cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/breaking-the-bank-who-s-afraid-of-bitcoin/ |title=Breaking the bank - Who's afraid of bitcoin? |date= 10 November 2018 |work= The Spectator |last=Reilly |first=Damian |accessdate=17 December 2022}}</ref> In 2018, ''The Times'' reported that Delo was the United Kingdom's youngest self-made billionaire.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/wheres-wallet-can-you-spot-ben-delo-the-uks-first-bitcoin-billionaire-llp2fk2rt |title= Where's Wallet? Can you spot Ben Delo, the UK's first bitcoin billionaire? |date= 1 July 2018 |work= The Times |last=Urwin |first=Rosamund}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Urwin |first=Rosamund |date=2023-07-07 |title=Where's Wallet? Can you spot Ben Delo, the UK's first bitcoin billionaire? |newspaper=The Times |language=en |url=https://www.thetimes.com/business-money/technology/article/wheres-wallet-can-you-spot-ben-delo-the-uks-first-bitcoin-billionaire-llp2fk2rt |access-date=2023-07-07 |issn=0140-0460}}</ref> As noted in a 2020 IPSO complaint, ''The Times'' removed a reference that he had been included in the 2018 ''Sunday Times Rich List''.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.ipso.co.uk/rulings-and-resolution-statements/ruling/?id=29243-20 |title=Resolution Statement – 29243-20 Delo v The Times |publisher=Independent Press Standards Organisation |date=29 March 2021 |accessdate=17 December 2022}}</ref>
In August 2022, Izabella Kaminska at ''Bloomberg'' described Delo as "the BitMEX co-founder most responsible for the perpetual swap’s invention."<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-08-31 |title=The Crypto Innovation Traditional Finance Needs |language=en |work=Bloomberg.com |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2022-08-31/perpetual-futures-are-the-crypto-innovation-finance-needs-to-manage-inflation |access-date=2023-11-07}}</ref>
In early 2026, Delo gave £4 million to Reform UK, and in April 2026 announced he was moving back to the UK after the Labour government changed the law to put a £100,000 cap on political donations from Britons living abroad.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rayner |first=Gordon |date=2026-04-08 |title=Billionaire expat moves back to UK to donate millions to Reform |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2026/04/08/billionaire-expat-ben-delo-moves-to-uk-to-donate-reform/ |access-date=2026-04-08 |website=Telegraph.co.uk}}</ref> In an article in ''The Telegraph'', he wrote that England was his home and that “the biggest obstacle to national recovery is the entrenched self-deception of our elites”.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Mason |first1=Rowena |title=British crypto billionaire Ben Delo says he has given £4m to Reform UK |url=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2026/apr/08/british-crypto-billionaire-ben-delo-says-he-has-given-4m-to-reform-uk |website=The Guardian |access-date=9 April 2026 |date=8 April 2026}}</ref>
==Bank Secrecy Act violation== On 1 October 2020, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the US Department of Justice charged BitMEX and its co-founders, including Delo, with various violations of American law. Delo and three others were charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement an adequate anti-money laundering program. The regulators alleged that the BitMEX trading platform was required to have registered aspects of its operations in the US and had failed to do so.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Stempel |first=Jonathan |date=2020-10-01 |title=U.S. charges BitMEX cryptocurrency founders with failing to prevent money laundering |language=en|work=Reuters |location=New York |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-bitmex-idUSKBN26M6SE |url-status=live |access-date=2020-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201001192448/https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-crime-bitmex/u-s-charges-bitmex-cryptocurrency-founders-with-failing-to-prevent-money-laundering-idUSKBN26M6SE |archive-date=2020-10-01}}</ref>
In March 2021, Delo traveled to the United States and surrendered himself to authorities in New York. He pleaded not guilty to the charges and was bailed on a $20 million bond before being allowed to return to the United Kingdom.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://cointext.com/news/bitmex-co-founder-ben-delo-surrenders-to-us-authorities/ |title=Bitmex co-founder Ben Delo surrenders to US authorities |publisher=CoinText |date=16 March 2021 |last=Maishera |first=Hassan |accessdate=22 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.tbstat.com/wp/uploads/2021/03/ben_delo_bail.pdf |title=SDNY Court Document 15 March 2021 |publisher=Southern District of New York |date=15 March 2021 |accessdate=22 December 2022}}</ref> On 24 February 2022, the Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that Delo and his BitMEX cofounder had each pleaded guilty to one Bank Secrecy Act violation for "willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an anti-money laundering ('AML') program at BitMEX". Under the terms of their plea agreements, Delo and his co-founders each agreed to pay a $10 million civil monetary penalty to the CFTC.<ref>{{cite web |title=Founders Of Cryptocurrency Exchange Plead Guilty To Bank Secrecy Act Violations |url=https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founders-cryptocurrency-exchange-plead-guilty-bank-secrecy-act-violations |website=United States Department of Justice |date=24 February 2022 |access-date=25 February 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Co-Founders Ordered to Pay $10 Million Each |url=https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8522-22 |website=Commodity Futures Trading Commission |date=5 May 2022 |at=Release Number 8522-22 |access-date=21 December 2022}}</ref> On 15 June 2022, Delo was sentenced to 30 months' probation,<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/bitmex-co-founder-sentenced-to-probation-on-u-s-compliance-charge-11655339914?mod=article_inline |title=BitMEX Co-Founder Sentenced to Probation on U.S. Compliance Charge |publisher=The Wall Street Journal |last=Vanderford |first=Richard |date=15 June 2022 |accessdate=7 January 2023}}</ref> through 15 December 2024. On 29 March 2025, Delo and the other two BitMex founders were pardoned by President Donald Trump.<ref name="Bloomberg_Mar25">{{cite news |title=Trump Pardons BitMEX Crypto Exchange Co-Founder Arthur Hayes |url=https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-03-28/trump-pardons-bitmex-co-founders-arthur-hayes-benjamin-delo-and-samuel-reed |access-date=2015-03-29 |work=Bloomberg News |date=28 March 2025 |first1=Stephanie |last1=Lai |first2=Chris |last2=Dolmetsch}}</ref>
==Philanthropy== In October 2018, Delo gave £5 million to his Oxford alma mater Worcester College, endowing two teaching fellowships in perpetuity and becoming the youngest major donor in the College's history.<ref name="Worcester2018">{{cite web |url=https://www.worc.ox.ac.uk/news-events/news/ben-delo-gives-5-million-to-worcester |title=Ben Delo gives £5 million to the College |publisher=Worcester College, Oxford |date=26 October 2018 |accessdate=22 December 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://fingfx.thomsonreuters.com/gfx/legaldocs/zjpqklkkxpx/delo-sentencing-memo-2022.pdf |title=Defendant Benjamin Delo's Sentencing Memorandum |publisher=Foley Hoag LLP, Smith Villazor LLP |date=1 June 2022 |accessdate=17 December 2022}}</ref> At the same time, the College elected him into an Honorary Fellowship in recognition of his work in computing and his philanthropy.<ref name="Worcester2018"/> In April 2019, Delo signed the Giving Pledge, announcing his intention to give away at least half of his wealth during his lifetime being inspired by the philosophy of effective altruism.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Delo |first=Ben |date=15 April 2019 |title=Ben Delo |url=https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=383 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190528183850/https://givingpledge.org/Pledger.aspx?id=383 |archive-date=May 28, 2019 |access-date=2019-06-17 |website=The Giving Pledge}}</ref> That month, Delo also became a member of Giving What We Can.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2019-11-11 |title=Co-funding Partnership with Ben Delo |url=https://www.openphilanthropy.org/blog/co-funding-partnership-ben-delo |access-date=2020-11-14 |website=Open Philanthropy|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=List of Giving What We Can Pledge Members |url=https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/about-us/members/ |access-date=2020-11-14 |website=www.givingwhatwecan.org}}</ref> In March 2020, Delo and ''Effective Giving'' funded a project led by the University of Oxford to survey of community-based infection of COVID-19 in the UK.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/article/researchers-determine-community-covid-19-infection-rates-uk-using-serology-pcr-and-nanopore |title= Researchers to determine community COVID-19 infection rates in the UK using serology, PCR and Nanopore Sequencing Technology |date= 4 April 2020 |work=Oxford Department of Zoology |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130040843/https://www.zoo.ox.ac.uk/article/researchers-determine-community-covid-19-infection-rates-uk-using-serology-pcr-and-nanopore |archive-date=30 November 2020}}</ref> Delo is associated with Mersenne.org and the Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search, a collaborative internet project to find Mersenne prime numbers.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PrimeNet - Customized Top Producers |url=https://www.mersenne.org/report_top_500_custom/?type=2000&start_date=2000-01-06 |access-date=2023-05-31 |website=www.mersenne.org}}</ref> In 2020, he co-founded the Sheila Coates Foundation, which supports students with autism in Britain.<ref name=interview/>
In 2023, he established the Ben Delo Commonwealth Leadership Programme, a scholarship initiative for postgraduate studies at King's College London.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Scholarships {{!}} International School for Government {{!}} King's College London |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/isfg/scholarships |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=www.kcl.ac.uk}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=London |first=King's College |title=New scholarship programme for Commonwealth civil servants launched |url=https://www.kcl.ac.uk/news/new-scholarship-programme-for-commonwealth-civil-servants-launched |access-date=2024-01-08 |website=King's College London |language=en}}</ref> In 2025, he funded the Ben Delo Fellowship at the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences.<ref>[https://www.spectator.co.uk/article/why-im-giving-my-money-to-maths/] - ''The Spectator'' - Ben Delo - 2025</ref> In 2026, he gave £25 million to his autism charity the Sheila Coates Foundation,<ref>{{cite web |last1=Hayes |first1=George |title=Cryptocurrency tycoon gives £25m to his autism charity |url=https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/cryptocurrency-tycoon-gives-25m-to-his-autism-charity.html |website=Civil Society |access-date=2 May 2026 |date=20 February 2026}}</ref><ref name="£20m to science"/> and pledged an additional £20 million to the London Institute for Mathematical Sciences.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Peel |first1=Michael |title=Pardoned crypto tycoon pledges £20mn to UK maths and physics institute |url=https://www.ft.com/content/6e0e52f2-d747-4ba2-b4bb-1772ac71c8de |access-date=2 May 2026 |work=Financial Times |date=2 March 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Peel |first1=Michael |title=Pardoned crypto tycoon gives £20mn to UK maths and physics institute |url=https://lims.ac.uk/perspectives/pardoned-crypto-tycoon-gives-20mn-to-uk-maths-and-physics-institute/ |website=London Institute for Mathematical Sciences |publisher=Financial Times |access-date=2 May 2026 |date=3 March 2026}}</ref><ref name="£20m to science">{{cite news |last1=Woolcock |first1=Nicola |title=Crypto billionaire pardoned by Trump gives £20m to science |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/education/article/ben-delo-biggest-non-oxbridge-donation-universities-lrbb0lc7v |access-date=2 May 2026 |work=The Times |date=3 March 2026}}</ref>
==See also== *List of people granted executive clemency in the second Trump presidency
==References== {{Reflist}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delo, Ben}} Category:Living people Category:1984 births Category:People educated at Lord Williams's School Category:Alumni of Worcester College, Oxford Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford Category:21st-century British philanthropists Category:People associated with cryptocurrency Category:People associated with effective altruism Category:21st-century British businesspeople Category:Hong Kong businesspeople Category:20th-century Hong Kong businesspeople Category:21st-century Hong Kong businesspeople Category:Financial technology company founders Category:Businesspeople from Sheffield Category:British expatriates in Hong Kong Category:Reform UK donors Category:People pardoned by Donald Trump