Bloomberg
Renegade Crypto Exchange recruits mainstream CEO for Makeover
(Bloomberg) – Alexander Höptner was the leader of the Stuttgart Stock Exchange when he jumped at the chance to take a top job at BitMEX, a groundbreaking cryptocurrency exchange known for its high-risk offerings. Just a few months later, the people who hired him found themselves refugees wanted by the US government. Federal prosecutors in New York have accused outspoken co-founder Arthur Hayes and other senior officials at the company of not using an adequate anti-money laundering operation on the derivatives trading platform. Hayes, along with co-owners and co-founders, resigned from his day-to-day leadership duty at the stock exchange’s holding company. Höptner has the task of sending BitMEX out of its biggest crisis ever and turning an apostate crypto startup into something very. more calm. Its purpose: to change the relationships with global regulators, while also expanding the business, ranging from trading to brokerage and conservation services. ‘I come from the regulated and classical world. I’ve had a lot of contact with the regulators, ‘the 50-year-old said in his first sit-in interview since joining the chief executive in January. “Now I am working on the crypto side and I am bringing the crypto side to the regulated world,” Höptner, currently in Hong Kong, said while considering a permanent base in Asia. Watch the Bloomberg Television interview here. He declined to comment on the criminal charges against the co-founders of BitMEX, or as a result of a parallel civil action by the US Commodity Forward Trading Commission, in which BitMEX illegally allowed Americans to trade on the platform. According to a court document released this week, Hayes, who was in Singapore, discussed the surrender to the US government. first regulated trading venue for digital tokens in 2019, and for that he spent more than a decade with the competitive Frankfurt Stock Exchange. It did not take him long to accept the BitMEX job offer as he was switching to crypto derivatives on the world stage. ‘Alex wants to move faster in the crypto-economy. He knows it is not possible for him to do it in Stuttgart, ”says Thomas Munz, a former board member at the German stock exchange who retired in October. There have already been some changes in the tone and policies of the company. In January, BitMEX said it had verified the identities, locations and credentials of all its clients, a program it launched in August. Operating clients now account for about 60% of the volume – which in the past year amounted to $ 1 trillion – because the exchange extends beyond the core of the risk-loving retailers. Users use average single-digit leverage to multiply their bets. This is far from the 100-fold highest leverage the platform allows, which also gives the name of its holding company, 100x Group. Höptner says he is working with regulators worldwide to get to the point where BitMEX can provide services on a regulated basis, and is also working to help shape government oversight. “We are approaching regulators where we are at present, but we will also reach out to regulators where we are not,” he said. Just like opponents like Binance take away the BitMEX market share in derivatives. Höptner is preparing to expand BitMEX’s offering to spot trading and adjacent areas such as brokerage and custody, transaction handling and client assets. “We have to decide very quickly how we want to approach these aspects and then see if we are a partner or if we are building something or buying something,” he said. It also has to do with the memory of Hayes, a poster boy for the early, freer days of cryptocurrencies. The 34-year-old entrepreneur recently broke a silence since the accusation in a blog post campaigning for Krypto’s rally and meme shares such as GameStop Corp. When he stepped into the shoes of the iconic founder, Höptner said: do not try to be someone else. I am who I am. ‘(Updates with the CEO examining a permanent base in the fourth paragraph) For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com. Sign up now to stay ahead of the most trusted business resource. © 2021 Bloomberg LP