Popular crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has announced a $150,000 grant for Calvin Kim — a Korean-based Bitcoin scaling researcher. The grant provides a second instance of support in which BitMEX has backed Kim’s research, with the exchange donating $30,000 to Kim in August 2020. For his current research, Kim plans to implement Utreexo into Bitcoin deployments, using the Go and Rust programming languages respectively, while also working on “improving the initial block download time in Bitcoin.” Utreexo is a Bitcoin scaling solution and hash accumulator that Kim has been working on since mid-2019, with the protocol's design having first been …

Crypto derivatives trading platform BitMEX, which has had its fair share of bad press over the past year, is trying to contribute to cleaning up the wider industry's image by taking action to address growing climate concerns over the carbon footprint of Proof-of-Work currencies like Bitcoin (BTC). In an announcement published on May 21, the exchange said that while there are ostensibly “wildly divergent views and accuracy of information” regarding the climate risks posed by some cryptocurrencies, BitMEX feels it has a “responsibility to take positive action.” This action will take the form of an attempt to offset its carbon …

The money laundering trial for the former executives of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has been scheduled for March 28, 2022. On May 11, New York District Judge John Koeltl set the trial date for former BitMEX executives CEO Arthur Hayes, co-founder Benjamin Delo, and chief technology officer Samuel Reed. The trio are accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act and anti-money laundering laws. Additionally, BitMEX's head of business development, Gregory Dwyer, is also facing charges but has yet to appear in the case. The U.S. Department of Justice originally filed the criminal charges against the four executives on October 1, …

Former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes surrendered to United States authorities in Hawaii on Tuesday, six months after federal prosecutors first levied charges against him and three fellow BitMEX executives. In a statement, Hayes’ lawyers described the Singapore resident as “a self-made entrepreneur who has been wrongly accused of crimes that he did not commit,” adding: “Mr. Hayes voluntarily appeared in court and looks forward to fighting these unwarranted charges.” Hayes was released after posting a $10-million bail bond pending future proceedings in New York. Hayes’ lawyers proposed his surrender in Hawaii last month. Discussions centered around Hayes’ potential release subject …

Lawyers negotiating on behalf of Arthur Hayes, one of four BitMEX executives and co-owners accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by United States authorities, have finalized the terms of his proposed voluntary surrender to a Hawaii court on April 6. As a letter submitted to the Southern District Court of New York outlines, the counsel's negotiations with the government on behalf of Hayes began shortly after his indictment was unsealed in October 2020. The proposed bail conditions, which are subject to the court's approval, stipulate that Hayes, who has lived in Singapore since January 2020, would potentially be released …

Ben Delo, one of the founders and co-owners of embattled crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, has surrendered to United States authorities in New York. According to Bloomberg, Delo was arraigned remotely before U.S Magistrate Judge Sarah Cave during a proceeding on Monday. He pleaded not guilty to all charges and was released on a bail bond of $20 million. The bail terms stipulate that he is permitted to return home to the United Kingdom and await trial. Delo’s surrender was part of an agreement negotiated with U.S authorities in February. The terms were coordinated with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and …

The former CEO of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, is in negotiations to surrender to U.S. authorities next month concerning charges that authorities levied against four of the exchange’s executives and co-owners in October. Transcripts of a court teleconference dated Feb. 16 indicate Hayes will surrender to the U.S. in Hawaii on April 6. Hayes and his fellow executives are accused of violating the Bank Secrecy Act by the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The transcript details the assistant U.S. attorney Jessica Greenwood’s comments to the judge presiding over the case, with Greenwood indicating …

BitMEX co-founder and former CEO Arthur Hayes has returned from exile with a post on the derivatives exchange’s official blog calling for a boycott of legacy platforms following the GameStop drama. Hayes said the incident, where trading on Robinhood was halted after retail traders forced a short squeeze causing hedge funds to suffer billions in losses, showed that markets are stacked against retail traders: “The game masters just didn’t like how the game was being played, so they jacked up margin to force a course correction,” he said. The former BitMEX CEO urged retail traders trader to “opt-out” of the …

BitMEX’s parent company 100x Group has hired a financial veteran with a professional background including the Bank of China. According to a Feb. 1 blog post on BitMEX, 100x has appointed former Chinese banker Wai Kin Chim as its new independent non-executive board director. A non-executive board member participates in policymaking and planning decisions at a firm, as well as monitoring the executive directors and acting in the interest of shareholders. However, they are not part of the executive team. Best known for his chief credit officer position at the state-owned commercial bank, Bank of China, Chim brings more than …

United States authorities have brought criminal charges against a crypto trader whom they say defrauded investors out of over $5 million. The Department of Justice announced on Tuesday that it had arrested Jeremy Spence. Between 2017 and 2019, 24-year-old Spence operated a crypto investment scheme under the name "Coin Signals," primarily via Twitter and Discord. The announcement quoted Federal Bureau of Investigation Assistant Director-in-Charge William Sweeney as saying: “As alleged, Jeremy Spence misrepresented the success of his investment platform in order to entice people to send money his way. Because his trading was less than profitable and significantly less successful …

100x Group, BitMEX’s parent company and the holding structure for its platform, has joined Global Digital Finance, or GDF, a major industry association advocating for the adoption of digital assets. As a GDF patron board member, 100x will advocate for a more inclusive and better regulated digital financial system, BitMEX announced on Jan. 21. The new partnership with GDF extends 100x’s efforts to promote collaboration between the public and private sectors to drive mainstream adoption of crypto. “Greater public-private collaboration is the only way to realise the wide-scale adoption of digital assets and we will be championing an advance in …

BitMEX Research has identified a suspected double-spend transaction valued at 0.00062063 BTC or roughly $21 — and it doesn’t appear to be an instance of that popular replace-by-fee wallet hack. On Jan. 20, BitMEX’s ForkMonitor noted that “multiple blocks were produced at height 666833.” BitMEX Research tweeted: [1/2] There was a stale Bitcoin block today, at height 666,833. SlushPool has beaten F2Pool in a race. It appears as if a small double spend of around 0.00062063 BTC ($21) was detectedhttps://t.co/o8lz9xagYG pic.twitter.com/IEdPu8JEjt — BitMEX Research (@BitMEXResearch) January 20, 2021 One hour later, BitMEX Research attributed the orphaned block to an RBF …