Arthur Hayes Sentenced to Two Years’ Probation, Six Months House Arrest

Arthur Hayes has been sentenced to two years’ probation plus six months of home confinement for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.

Hayes Sentenced

A U.S. court in New York has sentenced BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act by failing to comply with anti-money laundering protocols.

Hayes, who pled guilty in February, will serve two years’ probation and six months of home detention. Hayes’ co-founders, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, who pled guilty alongside Hayes in February, are set to be sentenced in June.

The BitMEX executives were accused of offering trading services to U.S. and international customers without observing required anti-money laundering and Know-Your-Customer procedures. As such, they stood accused of facilitating money laundering.

The judge in the case, Judge John Koeltl, said during Hayes’ sentencing that his actions were not a matter of mere oversight, but rather that Hayes understood the implications of failing to comply with anti-money laundering procedures:

“He knew these procedures were required to avoid having his company used for money laundering and other illegal purposes… the crime was more than a simple regulatory oversight.”

Hayes’ attorneys asked for no jail time, while prosecutors in the case sought more than a year. Prosecutors in the case said that comprehensive compliance within the crypto would be unsuccessful if founders and executives “believe there are no meaningful repercussions for failing to comply with the law.”

BitMEX was initially accused of failing to implement anti-money-laundering (AML) programs last year. In August, its parent company was fined $100 million in penalties as part of a settlement with the CFTC and FinCEN. Hayes, Delo, and Reed have each personally been fined $10 million.

BitMEX continues to operate.

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.