Arthur Hayes, BitMEX’s former CEO, is in discussions to surrender to U.S. authorities next month regarding the charges levied against four of the exchange’s executives and co-owners in October. The court transcripts dated February 16 indicate that Jessica Greenwood, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, notified the federal judge. She informed regarding the ongoing negotiation and location of now-at-large Hayes, who is recently staying in Singapore. The prosecutors are also in touch with the two other parties, co-founder Ben Delo and first BitMEX employee Gregory Dwyer.
According to the reports, Delo is ready for a voluntary surrender in New York. However, he would require assistance to enter the United States. Moreover, he is recently residing in a country with travel constraints. Dwyer, who is in Bermuda, has no plans to surrender. Moreover, BitMEX CTO, Samuel Reed, was arrested in Massachusetts as the authorities levied charges, October. Reed came out from custody after a $5 million bond was paid that same month, with him admitting to comply with sentencing proceedings.
DOJ and CFTC Charges against BitMEX
For the uninformed, last October, the U.S. DOJ and the CFTC charged BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes and four of the exchange’s executives and co-owners. They violated the Bank Secrecy Act and fueled money laundering. Moreover, the CFTC accused BitMEX lead officials of illegally functioning in the United States. CFTC filed a civil enforcement action against CEO Arthur Hayes and co-founders Samuel Reed and Ben Delo. Moreover, the CFTC blamed them for not implementing mandatory KYC regulations and anti-money laundering policies.
According to the official complaint, the CFTC claims that BitMEX illegally provided leverage to retail commodity transactions, options, futures, and swaps on crypto. It enabled platform users to leverage up to 100x to develop exaggerated profits from minor fluctuations in crypto prices. After the lawsuit, Arthur Hayes stepped down from his role as CEO of BitMEX. Last month, Hayes posted an article on BitMEX’s official blog asking to boycott the legacy finance in reply to trading platforms terminating trades amidst the GameStop pump directed by subreddit r/WallStreetBets.
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