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BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes Offers to Surrender to US Authorities in Hawaii

Under a proposal, Hayes would be allowed release on a $10 million bond secured by $1 million in cash.

Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX
Arthur Hayes, former CEO of BitMEX

Arthur Hayes, founder and former CEO of BitMEX, says he will surrender to U.S. authorities to face charges the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange facilitated unregistered trading and other violations.

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Under a proposal sent to Judge John G. Koeltl at the U.S. District Court in New York Tuesday and agreed upon with the U.S. in principle, Hayes would be allowed release on a $10 million personal recognizance bond secured by $1 million in cash and co-signed by his mother.

Hayes intends to surrender in Hawaii on April 6, where the local FBI office would transport him to the courthouse. He would be allowed to keep his passport and stay at his home in Singapore and have pre-approved travel to the U.S.

Following his initial court appearance, Hayes would stay in Hawaii for a quarantine period before returning to Singapore. Later in the court process, he says he would travel to New York for court appearances and meetings with lawyers.

In October, BitMEX and co-founders Hayes, Samuel Reed and Ben Delo were charged with violating the Bank Secrecy Act and conspiracy to violate the act by the U.S. Department of Justice.

See also: BitMEX Founder Ben Delo Surrenders to US Authorities

At the same time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission alleged that BitMEX received some $11 billion in bitcoin deposits and made more than $1 billion in fees “while conducting significant aspects of its business from the U.S. and accepting orders and funds from U.S. customers.”

Hayes and other co-founders left their executive positions at BitMEX a week later. Delo pleaded not guilty after surrendering to authorities on Monday.

Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar has contributed to The Wall Street Journal, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Forbes Africa, Financial Times, The Street, Citywire, Investing.com, Euromoney, Yahoo! Finance, Benzinga, Kitco News, African Business Magazine, Hedge Week, Campden Family Office, Modern Investor, Spear's Wealth Management Magazine, Global Investor, ETF.com, ETF Stream, CIO UK, Funds Global Asia, Portfolio Institutional, Interactive Investor, Bitcoin Magazine, CryptoNews.com, Bitcoin.com, The Local, The Next Web, Mining Journal, Money Marketing, Marketing Week and more. Tanzeel trained as a foreign correspondent at the University of Helsinki, Finland and newspaper journalist at the University of Central Lancashire, UK. She holds a BA (Honours) in English Literature from the Manchester Metropolitan University, UK and completed a semester abroad as an ERASMUS student at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. She is NCTJ Qualified - Media Law, Public Administration and passed the Shorthand 100WPM with distinction. She does not currently hold value in any digital currencies or projects.

Tanzeel Akhtar