In a recent statement, BitMEX reported the withdrawal of executives from the exchange platform, after the CFTC and the DOJ accused them of operating illegally and violating US laws for Bank Secrecy, Digital Assets and AML.
BitMEX executives suffered a major blow earlier this week, when the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) flagged them for violating US laws and allowing trading illegal with Bitcoin and other digital assets. Since these accusations became known, users of the exchange began to massively withdraw funds in Bitcoin (BTC) that they kept deposited within the platform.
Now, through a release official issued by BitMEX, the founders of the exchange announced the retirement of Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX; Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX; Samuel Reed, Co-Founder and CTO of BitMEX, and Gregory Dwyer, Head of Business Development at BitMEX. Hayes and Reed, who is under arrest, are removed from all of their duties as executives of the platform with immediate effect, while Delo and Dwyer will not hold any executive positions within the platform. 100x Group nor BitMEX.
The changes in the exchange's executive train are approved by all of the founders of BitMEX, in addition to the holding group of HDR Global Trading Limited, who is the owner and operator of this exchange platform cryptocurrencies, .
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The new managers
In the statement, BitMEX announces that Vivien Khoo, an executive with extensive experience and track record in the financial industry, will be the new COO of 100x Group and will become the interim CEO of the exchange, assuming several additional operational responsibilities for managing the platform. In addition, Ben Radclyffe, who serves as the company's current Commercial Director, will expand his functions and assume responsibility for managing public relations with the company's and the exchange's clients. Radclyffe will also oversee financial products.
Khoo has been with 100x Group since 2019, having held positions including Asia Pacific Chief Compliance Officer at Goldman Sachs, and various positions within the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission. Radclyffe, for his part, has worked at 100x Group since March of this year, although he has extensive experience in the financial and commercial technology industry, with important positions within banking entities and recognized companies such as Deutsche Bank, UBS y Tower Research Capital.
BitMEX also announced that the rest of the team, the senior leaders of the exchange, will continue in their positions, fulfilling their usual functions to ensure the continuity of the services provided by the exchange and guarantee the growth and improvement of the platform.
Consequences of the CFTC accusations on the DOJ
David Wong, president of 100x Group, stated that the change in BitMEX's executive train allows the platform to continue its operations, while they can focus on the development of their business, complying with current US laws and regulations to guarantee the provision of their services legally.
“These changes to our executive leadership mean we can focus on our core business of delivering superior trading opportunities to all of our clients through the BitMEX platform, while maintaining the highest standards of corporate governance.”
However, to date, Chainalysis, a leading blockchain analytics and intelligence firm, is calificando BitMEX as a “high risk” cryptocurrency exchange, so transactions made to or from an address on this exchange will have this rating. The firm announced these actions through emails sent to its clients who use the service. KYT API by Chainalysis. The intelligence firm's intention is to warn its clients of the possible risks associated with using addresses from this platform.
“Any transfers after October 1 should be considered high risk,” points out the signature.
At press time, BitMEX users withdrew more than 54 thousand BTC between October 1 and 2, according to a report posted by Coin Metrics, although after seeing that the funds would not be blocked and that the platform does not present problems for withdrawal, the panic of users has been decreasing. BitMEX maintains deposits in Bitcoin worth close to 1,5 billion dollars according to Coin Metrics.
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