BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes Negotiating Surrender to US Authorities

Prosecutors have suggested Hayes will surrender on April 6 in Hawaii. Associate Greg Dwyer may be extradited from Bermuda.

By Jeff Benson

2 min read

According to court documents shared with cryptocurrency publication The Block, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes could surrender to US authorities in Hawaii next month.

Hayes and BitMEX co-owners Greg Dwyer and Ben Delo, as well as Head of Business Development Greg Dwyer, were charged in October with "willfully failing to establish, implement, and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering ('AML') program" for the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange.

While Reed has already been arrested, the other three men are at large. According to court transcripts from a February 9 hearing, Hayes is in Singapore. Dwyer's Twitter account lists his location as Bermuda. Delo is a British national.

With regards to Hayes, Assistant US Attorney Jessica Greenwood told the US District Court of the Southern District of New York: "We, with respect to defendant Hayes, have discussed a surrender date of April 6, 2021, in Hawaii." Hayes would then appear virtually before a judge.

Delo, too, seems prepared to turn himself in and appear before a judge shortly thereafter. "He is planning, or at least counsel has represented that he is planning, to appear in New York," Greenwood told the court. "We are working with the FBI and Border Patrol to obtain immigration authorization for him to be permitted to come here."

Dwyer is the wild card, according to prosecutors. "We have also been in discussions with his counsel about obtaining his appearance," Greenwood said. "We were unable to negotiate a voluntary surrender so we have begun extradition proceedings against him in Bermuda."

Despite its founders' legal troubles, BitMEX remains one of the most popular exchanges for crypto derivatives. According to data from Nomics, it recorded over $127 billion in volume over the last month, twice as much as US-based rival Kraken and only slightly less than Coinbase Pro.

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