BitMex Co-Founder Surrenders to Authorities, Faces Charges in the United States
Recently one of the founders of the BitMex exchange, Benjamin Delo, surrendered to the United States authorities to face charges of alleged money laundering against him.
According to In a note published this March 16 by the Bloomberg news agency, Delo traveled to New York from the United Kingdom. He was accused before the American judge Sarah L. Cave during a remote procedure, where he pleaded not guilty. He was then released on a bail of USD 20 million, to later return to the UK.
Delo is a computer scientist, educated in Oxford, who created a high frequency trading system for JP Morgan Chase & Co. In 2014, together with Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed founded BitMex.
What is Delo accused of?
BitMex created its own futures and options trading platform in 2014. In October 2020, all the founders of the firm faced serious accusations by federal prosecutors in New York who accused them of circumventing banking laws, aimed at ensuring that the platform is not used for illegal purposes.
In addition, according to US authorities, BitMex did not register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), like any exchange that offers zca future trading options.
Officials noted that BitMex allowed users to deposit bitcoins without registering. They also allowed the consumption of basic products without verifying the whereabouts of origin. Similarly, questioned why BitMex allowed deposits without any KYC verification.
However, a BitMex spokesperson said via a statement, that the charges against Delo are unfounded and in his opinion are an overreach by the US authorities. He assured that Delo intends to defend himself against the charges and clear his name in court.
Federal prosecutors said another of the exchange’s founders, Arthur Hayes, is in Singapore and negotiates with authorities surrender in Hawaii on April 6. Meanwhile, Reed was arrested in Massachusetts in 2020.
BitMex publishes book on the Bitcoin blockchain size war
BitMex’s executive management was removed in full on October 8, 2020, following the accusations of the CFTC. Arthur Hayes, and the other co-founders, were removed by consensus from their positions, with “immediate effect.” Instead, the company appointed Alexander Hoptner as CEO in November 2020.
BitMex was spared another lawsuit in court, after having reached a monetary agreement with two of its former founders. Frank Amato and Guido Capone, two of the early founders of BitMex, will receive $ 44 million as part of the deal.
Recently, BitMex Research , the research section of the cryptocurrency and derivatives exchange, BitMex, announced on Twitter the publication of its book, The Blocksize War , which talks about the war for the block size of Bitcoin, which spanned from August 2015 to November 2017.
The Blocksize War chronologically narrates the most important events and conflicts of the contest that took place from August 2015 to November 2017, due to the amount of data allowed in the Bitcoin blockchain. Also talks about others problems they have observed on the network, such as who controls the protocol of that system. It was from this conflict that the bifurcation that led to the birth of Bitcoin Cash resulted.
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