BitMEX founder Arthur Hayes pleads guilty, learns the rise and fall of the king of crypto leverage

On February 25, according to Bloomberg, the two co-founders of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, pleaded guilty in a New York court on Thursday to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. For their actions, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo were ordered to pay $10 million in fines each, while also facing possible 6-12 months in prison.

Since October 2020, BitMEX has continued to suffer from US regulatory crackdowns, CTO was arrested, CFTC sued the platform and founder, etc. Under the pressure of supervision, it has long lost its elegance as the world's largest cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform. Even the platform Token that has just been issued has not caused any waves in the market.

New players in the crypto world may not know much about this former giant. When the market was still in chaos, Arthur Hayes discovered a gap in the market and became a generation of overlords in the crypto world.

From being laid off to billionaire


Although registered in Seychelles, Arthur Hayes chose to headquarter BitMEX in Hong Kong, the world's financial center, which is not only a paradise for crypto trading, but also where Arthur first started.

Arthur and BitMEX are not short of money. In August 2018, the wealthy Arthur rented the 45th floor of the Yangtze River Center with huge sums of money, breaking the previous record at US$28.66 per square foot (0.09 square meters) and became the world's most expensive office in one fell swoop. The monthly rent totals more than $500,000, which allows BitMEX to be on an equal footing with world-class financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Barclays.

Hongkong



In his spare time, he can stand in front of the high floor-to-ceiling windows and look at the night view of the bustling city on the opposite side. After 6 years of business, Arthur has become one of the most well-known entrepreneurs in the crypto world. BitMEX, founded by him, had a daily trading volume of 3 billion US dollars at its peak, and a 30-day trading volume of more than 120 billion US dollars. As long as someone comes to trade, The platform continuously earns fees on energy sources. Compared with Arthur's steady experience of moving bricks in his early years, this is the real gold.

When he first started his business, Arthur didn't expect to be able to make the business so big.

Seven years ago, in order to make a living, 22-year-old Arthur had to endure a pay cut at Deutsche Bank, where he had been staying for several years. After a period of time, Arthur jumped to Citibank, but the sudden wave of layoffs made the newly settled down. Arthur, unfortunately became one of them. This top graduate from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania is unemployed.

Born into a middle-class family in Buffalo, USA, Arthur considered a career in real estate, and finally chose finance. After there is no job, whether to continue to find another job or start a business has become the two choices in front of this black guy.