Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes surrenders, granted $10 million bail, claims charges are baseless

The pioneer of cryptocurrency derivatives, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, surrendered to U.S. authorities in Hawaii yesterday, 4/6. According to a previous agreement, Hayes was released on a $10 million bail and will await future proceedings in New York.

Hayes Maintains Charges Are Baseless

According to Bloomberg, Arthur Hayes' lawyers continue to emphasize his innocence in a statement:

Arthur Hayes is a self-made entrepreneur who is falsely accused of crimes he did not commit. Hayes voluntarily surrendered and looks forward to fighting these baseless charges.

Last month, court documents from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York indicated that Hayes had planned to surrender in Hawaii on the 6th of this month and would later return to his current residence in Singapore. As the case proceeds through the judicial process, he will travel to New York with his lawyers to appear in court.

Charged with Unregistered Operation and Anti-Money Laundering Violations

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) issued a statement on October 2nd last year, accusing BitMEX, once the world's largest Bitcoin futures exchange, of illegal unregistered operations and violations of anti-money laundering laws.

In addition to operating without proper registration, BitMEX allegedly violated multiple CFTC regulations and failed to comply with anti-money laundering procedures, leading to charges as many of its users, including U.S. consumers, were affected.

Despite vehemently denying these allegations, BitMEX has actively promoted its Know Your Customer (KYC) verification process following the incident, apparently attempting to address past violations of anti-money laundering regulations in recent years.

Gregory Dwyer Refuses to Surrender

On March 16th, BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo also surrendered to U.S. authorities and posted a $20 million bail.

Meanwhile, according to CoinDesk, BitMEX's Head of Business Development, Greg Dwyer, currently residing in Bermuda, has refused to surrender and extradition proceedings have begun by federal prosecutors.

Although Hayes no longer holds any position within BitMEX, he occasionally shares his trading arbitrage strategies on the BitMEX Blog or his experiences with DeFi liquidity mining.

Last year, as major exchanges competed for dominance in the futures market, BitMEX, already under pressure from the CFTC, seemed to fade from the user's view after being pursued by regulatory authorities. BitMEX is represented by the yellow portion in the image below: