Arthur Hayes (banker)

Arthur Hayes
Born	Template:Birth year and age Detroit, Michigan, U.S.
Occupation	Businessperson
Known for	Co-founder of BitMEX

Arthur Hayes (born 1985) is an American businessperson and co-founder of the cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX. He has been identified as the youngest African American billionaire within the crypto industry. In 2022, Hayes admitted guilt to violating the United States Bank Secrecy Act, resulting in a sentence that included six months of home detention, two years of probation, and a $10 million penalty. Subsequently, he received a pardon from Donald Trump.

Early life and education

Hayes was born in Detroit, Michigan to middle-income parents employed by General Motors. His family relocated to Buffalo, New York, seeking a nurturing environment for his growth. There, he attended Nichols School, a private preparatory institution, where he demonstrated strong academic and athletic performance, graduating second in his class in 2004. In gratitude, Hayes has since funded scholarships at Nichols to enable others to access similar educational opportunities.

He completed his Bachelor of Science degree in economics and finance at the Wharton School of Business of the University of Pennsylvania in 2008. Later on, Hayes established residence in Singapore.

Deutsche Bank and Citigroup

Hayes launched his career in investment banking in Hong Kong in 2008 as an equity derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank, remaining there until 2011. He subsequently moved to Citigroup, serving first as head ETF market maker and later as a Delta one trader, before being laid off in 2013.

BitMEX

At 28 years old in 2014, Hayes co-launched the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX alongside Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. The platform expanded rapidly to become one of the largest derivatives exchanges for virtual currencies, with average daily trading volumes surpassing $2 billion by 2021.

In March 2019, Hayes donated $2.24 million to the Jackie Robinson Foundation, marking the largest contribution from an alumnus. BitMEX’s parent company also contributed $2.5 million toward COVID-19 relief efforts in April 2020.

Hayes is acknowledged as the youngest African American billionaire within the cryptocurrency sector.

Bank Secrecy Act violation

In October 2020, Hayes and his associates faced indictment from the U.S. Department of Justice for managing BitMEX without registering with U.S. authorities despite serving thousands of American customers. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) alleged that these unregistered operations enabled money laundering activities under the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires reporting transactions exceeding $10,000 and mandates Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures. BitMEX was notably the first crypto exchange charged under this legislation.

Following these developments, Hayes stepped down as CEO in October 2020 and was succeeded by Alexander Hoptner. In April 2021, he voluntarily turned himself over to U.S. officials in Hawaii and was subsequently released on bail. Reports indicated that U.S.-based users accessed BitMEX through VPNs despite regulatory prohibitions against residents of the U.S. and Quebec using the platform.

In August 2021, BitMEX reached a settlement with the CFTC by agreeing to pay a $100 million penalty without admitting or denying any wrongdoing. On February 24, 2022, Hayes along with co-founders Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and Gregory Dwyer pleaded guilty to knowingly neglecting to implement an anti-money laundering (AML) program at BitMEX. As a first-time offender with a history of philanthropy, Hayes was sentenced to six months of home confinement and two years probation alongside a $10 million fine equivalent to his illicit gains from the violation.

On March 29, 2025, President Donald Trump granted pardons to Hayes and his co-founders.