News linked to both this project and an event.
Odaily Odaily News Crypto derivatives platform BitMEX is facing a proposed class action lawsuit, with BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar filing a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. The plaintiffs allege they incurred combined losses of 622.66 BTC from forced liquidations on BitMEX, with BKX claiming losses of at least 305.81 BTC and Namdar claiming losses exceeding 316.85 BTC. The complaint alleges that BitMEX's internal trading desk had access to customers' private information and could continue trading during periods when the server was frozen and regular users were unable to access or close positions. The plaintiffs further claim that BitMEX allowed customers to use leverage of up to 100x and would automatically liquidate positions when the collateral value was still twice the loss amount, with the remaining BTC entering the platform's insurance fund. The plaintiffs are seeking the return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin, as well as compensatory and punitive damages. They intend to represent U.S. customers who purchased BTC swap products since July 23, 2018. On the same day the lawsuit was filed, BitMEX announced that following a strategic review by its owner, HDR Global Trading, it will cease providing services on September 23, has already stopped accepting new registrations, and plans to prohibit users from opening new positions starting August 26.
: Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has announced it will shut down, with trading scheduled to conclude on September 23. Founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed, BitMEX made the decision after a strategic review by its parent company, HDR Global Trading. BitMEX played a pioneering role in making perpetual contracts a key product in digital asset derivatives trading. Data from CryptoQuant shows that its Bitcoin futures daily trading volume began to decline around May 2021 and has failed to recover to its peak daily range of $1 billion to $5 billion seen in 2020. Restructuring advisor Roshan Dharia stated that mid-tier centralized exchanges face structural pressures, with liquidity increasingly concentrating on larger platforms and compliance costs rising. He noted that the top five platforms are currently estimated to control 80% of global spot trading volume, while mid-tier and regional exchanges are seeing narrowing profit margins and lack clear paths to scale. According to CoinGecko data, BitMEX ranked ninth among derivatives exchanges in August 2023, holding a 0.9% market share. By 2025, it was no longer among the top ten perpetual contract exchanges. Over the same period, these platforms saw their annual perpetual contract trading volume grow by 47.4%, reaching $86.2 trillion.
CZ expressed regret over BitMEX's closure announcement, recalling that BitMEX pioneered the 100x leveraged perpetual contract in the crypto market in 2014, driving industry development.CZ noted that BitMEX only supported BTC deposits and single-chain operations at the time, and adopted a once-daily, multi-signature wallet batch withdrawal process. These seemingly inconvenient designs, he said, actually helped the platform avoid hacker attacks over the long term.He also mentioned that BitMEX's four co-founders admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) one month before their trial, each being fined $10 million and sentenced to home detention, with no prison time. However, CZ believes that BitMEX's business ultimately couldn't withstand the "War on Crypto" during the Biden administration.In conclusion, CZ stated that BitMEX is currently winding down in an orderly fashion, users can still withdraw assets, and he paid tribute to co-founder Arthur Hayes.
According to an official announcement, crypto exchange BitMEX will officially close at 12:00 (Beijing time) on September 23, 2026, and will stop new user registrations immediately. BitMEX stated that the board of directors of its parent company, HDR Global Trading Limited, decided to close the exchange after a strategic review.
Odaily News, June 9th — BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes stated in his latest article "Reality Test" that if oil prices continue to rise due to the US-Iran conflict, it could trigger a collapse of the AI stock bubble and drag the entire crypto market down.Hayes said that if traffic restrictions in the Strait of Hormuz persist deep into the second quarter, spot prices for hydrocarbons and other key commodities could rise in the third quarter. If oil prices continue to climb and inflationary pressures impact the US midterm elections, Trump might pivot to a tough stance targeting data center construction, AI regulation, and taxation. Hayes believes the market could anticipate Trump limiting AI capital expenditure and taxing AI companies, thereby triggering the burst of the AI stock bubble.Hayes also noted that since November 2022, the scale of AI-related debt issuance has been approximately $1.5 trillion, and US M2 has increased by roughly the same amount during the same period. He believes the three factors that could pop the AI bubble include rising energy costs, the market's inability to absorb three major AI-related IPOs — namely SpaceX, Anthropic, and OpenAI — and Trump's shift to opposing AI. In terms of portfolio, Hayes stated that Maelstrom's stock portfolio holds significant positions in US-listed energy producers; he has sold AI-related stocks and offloaded non-core crypto assets, having dumped HYPE, NEAR, and WLD last week, as well as selling ZEC due to the Orchard Pool vulnerability. He still holds Bitcoin and ETH and will execute tactical short trades via derivatives.
The UK Labour Party has formally written to Nigel Farage, leader of Reform UK, accusing him of "avoiding legitimate scrutiny" regarding a £5 million (approximately $6.7 million) donation from Tether shareholder and billionaire Christopher Harborne in 2024.Harborne holds approximately 12% of Tether shares and is worth around $24.4 billion. Labour Party Chair Anna Turley stated that Farage should provide a clear public explanation to the public about the use of these funds and related circumstances, rather than continuing to evade questions from the media and regulatory bodies.Currently, the UK Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards has launched a formal investigation into the matter to assess whether the funds were used for political activities. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also publicly questioned why Farage has kept this donation hidden for an extended period.Data shows that Harborne has donated a total of approximately £12 million ($16 million) to Reform UK, including the largest single personal political donation in modern UK political history. Additionally, BitMEX co-founder Ben Delo donated £4 million to the party in the first quarter of 2026, making Reform UK one of the most well-funded political parties in the UK. (Decrypt)
Arkham has disclosed that BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes' estimated net worth in 2026 could range between $200 million and $350 million, with verifiable on-chain assets totaling approximately $42 million. His wealth primarily stems from his BitMEX equity, his family office Maelstrom fund, and potential undisclosed token investments. Although BitMEX has significantly declined from its 2019 peak (with an annual trading volume exceeding $1 trillion and a valuation of around $3.6 billion), its current valuation stands at approximately $500 million, yet it still constitutes a core component of his asset base.Arthur Hayes was previously sentenced in 2022 for violating the Bank Secrecy Act and was later pardoned by Donald Trump in 2025. Despite navigating regulatory controversies, he remains influential in the crypto industry, particularly active in innovating perpetual swaps and sharing market perspectives.Overall, Arthur Hayes is still regarded as a key opinion leader in the crypto market, with his asset structure closely correlated to market cycles.
According to CoinDesk, Nigel Farage, leader of the UK’s Reform UK party, is facing a parliamentary standards inquiry after receiving an undisclosed £5 million (approximately $6.7 million) grant from cryptocurrency billionaire Christopher Harborne—prior to his election as a Member of Parliament in 2024. Harborne resides in Thailand and holds a 12% stake in stablecoin issuer Tether. Farage stated that the grant was intended to ensure his personal security—not for political activities. However, both the Conservative and Labour parties have accused him of violating House of Commons rules requiring MPs to register any income received within the 12 months preceding their election, and have referred the matter to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards. Reform UK countered that the payment constitutes a “personal unconditional gift,” exempt from disclosure requirements and unrelated to the election. The UK government announced in March this year that it would suspend political parties’ acceptance of cryptocurrency donations to guard against foreign interference. Previously, Christopher Harborne donated £9 million to Reform UK—the largest single political donation ever made by a living individual in the UK. This year, Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX, also donated £4 million to the party. Additionally, Farage himself holds a 6.31% stake in Stack BTC, a Bitcoin treasury company.
Fu Peng, Chief Economist of Xinhuo Group, posted on X stating that commodity ETFs are essentially regulatory-compliant products packaging the business model of “holding commodities long-term and generating rental income continuously.” Fund companies focus not on the commodity market’s outlook but rather on the asset’s ability to generate “rent” consistently. Since BitMEX launched the world’s first BTC perpetual contract and introduced the funding rate mechanism on May 13, 2016, long-term BTC holders have been able to earn rental income through hedging operations—transforming BTC from a pure faith-based speculative asset into a “rental asset” with stable positive cash flow logic. The costs paid by retail participants when trading derivatives constitute the foundation for large-position holders’ risk-free hedging rental income. This income is then packaged into ETF-like products sold to liquidity providers (LPs), whose raised capital is subsequently used to purchase Bitcoin—creating a virtuous cycle that reduces volatility and reinforces BTC’s income-generating attributes.
According to Decrypt, Ben Delo, co-founder of BitMEX, revealed that he donated $5.4 million (approximately £4 million) to Reform UK, the political party led by Nigel Farage—prior to the UK’s introduction of a new £100,000 cap on donations from overseas residents. Delo pleaded guilty in the U.S. in 2022 to BitMEX’s violations of anti-money laundering compliance requirements and paid a $10 million fine; he was later pardoned by Donald Trump. Reform UK has previously received a £11.4 million donation from Christopher Harborne, a Thai national and investor in Tether. The party positions itself as the UK’s most crypto-friendly political party, though the UK government has imposed a suspension on cryptocurrency donations to political parties. Delo stated he plans to relocate to the UK, after which he would no longer be subject to the donation cap.