BitMEX executives Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and Gregory Dwyer were charged with one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and one count of conspiracy, according to an indictment made public Thursday. Arthur Hayes is known for feuding with bitcoin skeptics such as economist Nouriel Roubini and urging traders to gamble on the most esoteric digital assets. The CFTC said BitMEX’s founders “failed to implement the most basic compliance procedures,” such as registering their activity with the CFTC.
BitMEX has received more than $11 billion in bitcoin deposits.
Crypto derivates exchange BitMEX has received more than $11 billion in bitcoin deposits from accounts with U.S. connections since 2014 and has earned more than $1 billion in fees, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged in its own civil lawsuit filed Thursday. The CFTC said BitMEX’s founders “failed to implement the most basic compliance procedures,” such as registering their activity with the CFTC. BitMEX’s chief technology officer Samuel Reed was arrested in Massachusetts on Thursday. BitMEX is the second-largest cryptocurrency derivatives exchange by daily volume, according to the CoinMarketCap data.
Defendants plan to fight the allegations.
Attorneys of Arthur Hayes have informed that the defendant intends to fight the allegations. “Together with his colleagues, Arthur Hayes worked hard to build an innovative, market-leading business in a cutting-edge sector of the economy,” attorneys Peter Altman and Jim Benjamin of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP said. Attorneys for Mr. Dwyer said he would also contest the charges. Mr. Dwyer worked in good faith to follow all applicable laws at BitMEX and helped the company operate “with the highest integrity,” attorneys Sean Hecker and Jenna Dabbs said. According to the indictment, as of September 2018, there were “thousands of BitMEX users with United States location information that were enabled for crypto trading.
