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 she has been in talks with Hayes regarding the anticipated voluntary surrender. Hayes is currently located in Singapore, with the attorney noting Hayes hopes to continue residing abroad but will appear within the United States for proceedings should the trial go to court.
“We have discussed with counsel how to arrange for a voluntary surrender, and he has proposed appearing within the United States in Hawaii and having his initial appearance there and then,” she said, adding:
“The idea would be that he would appear initially in Hawaii, then appear before your Honor remotely, and then he would continue to reside abroad with travel to the United States for appearances as needed and, of course, if there is a trial, that he would appear within the United States for that trial in New York.”
Greenwood also revealed that BitMEX co-owner Ben Delo intends to surrender in New York by the end of the month. However, she noted they are currently working with the FBI and Border Patrol to obtain immigration authorization allowing him to travel to the United States, despite Delo currently being subject to a U.K. travel ban.
The attorney also stated that while fellow co-owner Greg Dwyer has declined to surrender, extradition proceedings have been initiated to bring him back from Bermuda.
“With respect to the remaining three defendants, […] we’ve been in contact with counsel discussing the possibility of appearing. They’ve all made representations about for when and how they’ll appear,” Greenwood said. However, she added:
“We have no guarantees at this point that any of those things will happen.”
BitMEX CTO, Samuel Reed, was arrested in Massachusetts as the charges were being levied against BitMEX in October. Reed was released from custody after a $5 million bond was paid that same month, with Reed agreeing to comply with sentencing proceedings.
In response to the hearing, the judge determined it wasn’t “reasonably possible” for a motion and trial schedule to be established. The judge scheduled a follow-up conference for May.
Last month, Hayes broke months of silence to post an article to BitMEX’s official blog calling for a boycott of legacy finance in response to trading platforms shutting down trade amid the GameStop pump engineered by subreddit, r/WallStreetBets.
