Cryptocurrencies
BitMEX Founders Charged With Failing to Prevent Laundering
- Crypto-derivatives pioneer invented perpetual Bitcoin futures
- Bitcoin falls abruptly on news, after 50% rise since December
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Founders of the pioneering crypto-derivatives exchange BitMEX were charged with skirting U.S. laws preventing money laundering and hit with civil sanctions as well, abruptly sending the price of Bitcoin down.
Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed were indicted in New York, where federal prosecutors claim the digital-asset exchange served American customers while flouting U.S. banking laws. Hayes said the exchange was incorporated in the Seychelles because they could bribe authorities there for the cost of “just a coconut,” according to the , unsealed Thursday.