Arthur Hayes

Arthur Hayes is an African American banker, entrepreneur, derivative trader, Bitcoin advocate, and a fintech pioneer. He was the CEO, and co-founder of BitMEX along with Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed. BitMEX was founded in 2014, the parent company is HDR Global Trading.

Hayes is the former CEO of BitMEX and parent company 100x Group. BitMEX is a digital asset trading platform which has traded trillions of dollars on the cryptocurrency exchange. BitMex is based in Seychelles. Hayes is based in Hong Kong. In October 2020, Hayes stepped down as CEO of BitMEX.

Hayes was born in 1985 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended Nichols School, a private preparatory school in Buffalo, New York, and graduated in 2004. His family relocated to Buffalo, New York, after searching for a school that they felt would give him the environment to thrive as a student, and as an athlete.

Hayes has created scholarships for students so that they can experience the education that he received at Nichols. His mother Barbara Hayes is quoted as saying "Nichols gave him the setting, the stimulation, and at one point, the scholarship to thrive.”

Hayes has a B.S. in economics and finance from Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania.

University of Pennsylvania

Bachelors of Science in Economics, Finance

2004 – 2008

University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School

Bachelor of Science in Economics, Finance

2004 – 2008

HKUST Business School

2006 – 2006

Hayes moved to Hong Kong in 2008, to start his investment banking career. He worked for Deutsche Bank, as an equity derivatives trader, and for Citigroup for five years. He worked as the head ETF market maker for both firms.

In 2011, Hayes left Deutsche Bank, and began working for Delta 1 trader for Citibank in Hong Kong.

Hayes interest in Bitcoin started in 2013, after reading the Satoshi Nakamoto white papers.

Hayes is the youngest African American crypto billionaire in history.

He co-started BitMEX in 2014.

In March 2019, Arthur Hayes contributed $2.24 million to the Jackie Robinson Foundation (JRF) Scholars program.

100x Group

• Co-Founder at 100x Group

Oct 2020 - present time

• Co-Founder and CEO

July 2019 - October 2020

Singapore

BitMEX

CEO

Jan 2014 - Oct 2020

Singapore

Citi

Delta One Trader (Associate)

June 2011 - May 2013

Head trader of Citi's Asian ETF offerings.

Also trade Index Forwards, Index Swaps, and Custom Baskets

Deutsche Bank

• Associate

July 2008 - June 2011

• Synthetic Equity Trader

June 2008 - June 2011

In July 2019, Nouriel Roubini made claims to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), and United States Department of Justice (DOJ) that BitMEX was involved in illegal activities.

In October 2020, Hayes along with his co-partners were indicted by the U.S. Department of Justice for an illegal operation. The charges by the (DOJ) in the case (United States vs Hayes et al), stating that Hayes and partners refused to register the company in the United States, and that they had 'thousands of US based customers'. Which is a violation of basic compliance standards. An operation DOJ says enabled money laundering activities under the bank security act. The CFTC charges that the illegal operations enabled money laundering activity under the Bank Secrecy Act.

BitMEX is the first crypto exchange to be charged under the bank security act. The laws require that transactions that are over $10,000 must be reported. It is known as Know Your Customer (KYC) data. Hayes stepped down from BitMex in October 2020. Alexander Hoptner replaced Hayes as CEO of BitMEX.

In April 2021, Hayes surrendered to United States Authorities in Hawaii on changes of violations with the U.S. Department of Justice.

According to an article published in the Financial Insight Zambia Limited, on February 9, 2021, in their opinion Arthur Hayes' crime is that he refused to allow the CFTC to obtain the account information on Bitmex's customers.

United States citizens used Virtual Private Network (VPN accounts) to set up BitMex accounts. Because the BitMEX platform is not registered in the U.S. or Canadian province of Quebec their citizens are prohibited from using the platform. Citizens were able to mask their locations by using (VPN) networks.

An article published in the Wall Street Journal on August 10, 2021, stated that a settlement was reached between BitMEX and the CFTC. BitMEX agreed to pay a $100 million fine to resolve the issue.

In the spring of 2013, Arthur read the white paper by Satoshi Nakamoto and thought that Bitcoin was the financial technology of the future. He began trading Bitcoin spot and derivatives. The arbitrage between the two was very profitable, and he used his profit to start arbitraging between different spot exchanges. Eventually, he also established himself as a broker who helped people buy and sell Bitcoins.

In January 2014, he along with two other partners formed BitMEX, Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange. BitMEX aims to be the worlds best and most advanced cryptocurrency derivatives exchange.

Arthur wants to spread the word as far and wide as possible. He also wants to bring traditional finance theory and practice to the cryptocurrency space. Arthur is a founding member of the Bitcoin Association of Hong Kong and is very active in the Bitcoin scene in the territory.

Mr Hayes is quoted as saying the company he co-founded BitMEX was on ‘the promise that humans for the first time have a choice in how they transact money and a choice between a government central bank-led monitor system and one that's led by open source software and math’.

“The JRF Scholars program was critical to my professional development as a student from Buffalo, New York," said Hayes.

"Providing this scholarship experience to other highly deserving students from Western New York will support their development into future leaders."

Yoga, squash, weightlifting, DJ'ing.