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Bloomberg
Renegade Crypto Exchange Hires Mainstream CEO For Makeover
(Bloomberg) – Alexander Höptner was running Börse Stuttgart when he jumped at the chance to land a high-level job with BitMEX, a pioneering cryptocurrency exchange known for its high-risk offerings. themselves fugitives wanted by the US government. New York federal prosecutors openly accused co-founder Arthur Hayes and other senior company executives of failing to deploy a proper anti-money laundering operation on the derivatives trading platform . Hayes, along with his fellow owners and co-founders, have stepped down from their day-to-day leadership roles at the stock exchange’s holding company.Now, Höptner is tasked with pulling BitMEX out of its biggest crisis and transforming a start-up crypto renegade into something good. more staid. Its objective: to modify relations with global regulators while developing activities ranging from spot trading to brokerage and custody services. “I came from the regulated and classical world. I already have a lot of touchpoints with regulators, ”the 50-year-old said in his first interview since he started as CEO in January. “Now I’m working on the crypto side and bringing the crypto side to the regulated world,” said Höptner, currently in Hong Kong as he considers a permanent base in Asia. criminal charges against the co-founders of BitMEX, or a parallel civil action by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, alleging that BitMEX illegally allowed Americans to trade on the platform. Hayes, who was in Singapore, discussed his surrender to US authorities in April, according to a court file released this week. first regulated trading platform for digital tokens in 2019, and before that, spent more than a decade with rival Frankfurt stock exchange. It didn’t take long for him to accept BitMEX’s job offer, he said, as he was considering switching to crypto derivatives on the global stage. “Alex wants to progress faster in the crypto-economy. He knows that it is not possible for him to do this in Stuttgart, ”said Thomas Munz, a former board member of the German stock exchange who retired in October. Already there are changes in the tone and policies of the company. In January, BitMEX said it verified the identities, locations and credentials of all of its customers, a program launched in August. Corporate clients now account for around 60% of the volume – totaling $ 1 trillion in the past year – as the exchange grows beyond its risk-loving retail client base. On average, users apply single-digit leverage to multiply their bets, he said. This is far from the 100 times highest leverage the platform allows, which also gives the name to its holding company, 100x Group. Höptner says he engages with regulators around the world. to get to the point where BitMEX can provide services on a regulated basis, and also “We are approaching regulators where we are currently present, but we will also be contacting regulators where we are not,” he said . Höptner is preparing to expand BitMEX’s offering to spot trading and adjacent areas such as brokerage and custody, transaction and asset management for clients. partner or if we build something or buy something, ”he said. It also has to deal with the memory of Hayes, a poster boy for the freer early days of cryptocurrencies. The 34-year-old trader-turned-entrepreneur recently broke a silence maintained since the arraignment in a blog post defending the crypto rally and stocks even like GameStop Corp. not trying to be someone else. I am who I am. (Updates with CEO exploring permanent basis in fourth paragraph) For more articles like this please visit us at bloomberg.com Subscribe now to stay ahead with the most popular source of business information. More reliable. © 2021 Bloomberg LP
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