Just last week, prominent cryptocurrency exchange, BitMEX made its way under the spotlight following a series of charges from the government of the United States. After publicly denying the accusations, the exchange recently released a blog post highlighting the change in leadership at the firm.
Defendants Step Down From Their Respective Roles
The parent company of BitMEX, 100x Group with the consent of the founders, has reportedly decided to change the management of the cryptocurrency exchange. The allegation made by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission [CFTC] highlighted Ben Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed, the owners of the exchange as the primary accused. The Department of Justice also charged the trio for disrupting the Bank Secrecy Act.
Soon after the charges were made public, BitMEX went on to share a blog post denying the allegations. However, almost a week later, the exchange decided to switch up the leadership roles in the firm. Arthur Hayes who was previously the CEO of the platform was replaced by Vivien Khoo who was serving as the chief operating officer at the 100x Group. However, Khoo’s latest upgradation is on an interim basis.
Samuel Reed was also dethroned from his role as the CTO of the exchange. The post further revealed that Ben Delo was restrained from holding any executive positions in the 100x Group. The Chairman of the 100x Group shared his stance on the latest switch in the management. He said,
“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.”
While Wong suggested that the platform’s senior leadership team was well in place to continue running the operations, the firm revealed that the senior leaders and the technology team would carry out the daily management of the platform as usual.
Furthermore, Greg Dwyer had reportedly taken a leave of absence as the Head of Business Development.
BitMEX CTO Finds His Way Out Of Jail
After being arrested for violating the Banking Secrecy Act as well as illegally running the cryptocurrency exchange, Samuel Reed was arrested with the other two owners. Reed was the first to go behind bars while the others part of the case were still being questioned. However, his $5 million appearance bond was approved by the United States District Court on 3 October 2020. A virtual court hearing had taken place on 1 October 2020 between Reed and the Court.
With the passports of both Reed as well as his wife being seized, he would have to appear before the court if he was to be convicted. While the maximum sentence for the allegations made against the trio is up to five years, Reed would have to surrender and serve a sentence if the allegations were proven by the prosecutors.
