BitMEX exchange operator shuffles leadership in wake of criminal charges

The operator of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has announced a sweep of its top leadership, after United States authorities charged its founders with failing to prevent money laundering and operating an unregistered trading platform illegally. 

On Oct. 8, BitMEX’s operator, 100x Group, announced that the exchange’s three co-founders, all of whom were charged in the case, will no longer hold executive roles at 100x: Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and Ben Delo. Greg Dwyer, the fourth executive to be charged, will take a leave of absence from his role as head of business development.

To replace Hayes, 100x Group has announced a new interim CEO , Vivien Khoo. Khoo was until now 100x Group’s chief operating operator. She first joined the company in 2019, after serving as managing director, Asia-Pacific  compliance, at Goldman Sachs, and has a background at the Hong Kong Securities and Futures Commission.

100x Group commercial director Ben Raddclyffe will take on expanded responsibilities for client relationship handling and oversight of financial products. Radclyffe has 20 years’ experience in finance and trading at Deutsche Bank, UBS and Tower Research Capital.

In an official comment, 100x Group chair David Wong has said the leadership “are well-placed to continue the growth and development of the 100x Group, including completion of the BitMEX User Verification Programme,” adding: 

“It is business as usual for us and we thank all clients for their continued support.”

For more insight into the significant challenges that BitMEX’s “business as usual” could face, and its intersection with wider regulatory developments in crypto, you can catch up on Cointelegraph’s coverage of the case as it unfolded earlier this week.