BitMEX Founders Call it Quits after US CFTC Charges

It appears that the owners of the Crypto Derivative trade platform, BitMEX, are scrambling out of their executive roles at the parent organisation of the trade platform after being hounded with charges of illegal conduct as laid by the U.S. Authorities.

100x – which is the Holding Group for BitMEX operator HDR Holdings revealed on Thursday, that Samuel Reed and Arthur Hayes have “stepped back from all executive management responsibilities for their respective CEO and CTO roles with immediate effect.”

BitMEX is focusing on its Corporate Governance 

The new arrangement has Vivien Khoo, who is presently the Chief Operating Officer of the 100x Group,  acting as the Interim CEO, while the Commercial Director will be Ben Radclyffe, who will lead the client relationship and financial products department with this supporting role.

This arrangement and statement by the 100x Group suggests that neither Hayes and Reed nor Ben Delo, who is also one of the founders of BitMEX, will run any executive role within the 100x Holding group. It appears that Greg Dwyer, who is the Head of Business Development, will also take time off from his work. 

David Wong, Chairman of the 100x Group explained that:

“These changes to our executive leadership mean we can focus on our core business of offering superior trading opportunities for all our clients through the BitMEX platform, whilst maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance.” 

Where it All Began

BitMEX founders got into this mess when the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the federal prosecutors charged the Exchange with crimes revolving around the illegal facilitation of unregistered trading and other violations, aka enabling “illicit crypto derivative trading services.”

Some users of the exchange have drained the platform of their funds while others continue to trade.