BitMEX CEO: “We do not trade against our customers”

Although BitMEX is one of the best-known platforms in the crypto market, there are a large number of people who do not trust the stock market. A medium post has now got the topic rolling. Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX, felt compelled to reject the accusations that the stock exchange was trading against its clients’ orders in a recent interview.

BitMEX is a Hong Kong-based Seychelles-based platform that has become known for its margin trading function that allows traders to use their Bitcoin (BTC) 100x. However, in recent months, when the crypto currency market was trapped in the bear market, there have been rumours that BitMEX has shameful intentions. Some conspirators claimed that BitMEX was acting against the interests of its customers to make a quick profit. One of these critics was Hasu, an anonymous account on medium, which calls itself an “independent crypto currency researcher” and published a very detailed medium post about BitMEX’s potentially questionable transactions in late October.

In the medium blog post, an anonymous account called “Hasu” made three big accusations against the stock market:

• BitMEX acts against its customers: BitMEX should be able to trade secretly against its customers via a market maker, which was only published in April 2018.
• BitMEX instrumentalizes its server problems: BitMEX had server problems in the past, which influenced the crypto market extremely. Hasu claims that the Exchange could give certain traders preferential access to conduct arbitrage during these times.
• BitMEX monetizes customer liquidations via its insurance fund: The leverage system requires traders to place marginal portfolios in an insurance fund. Although this fund enables highly indebted trading, Hasu has claimed that the company “makes significant money through liquidations”.

BitMEX responds Word

However, in a recent interview with Yahoo Finance UK, Hayes responded to the allegations and explained that BitMEX was a market making desk, but only to bring liquidity to the market and not to do countertrade with its customers. Hayes also stressed that BitMEX does not provide ‘special access for everyone’ and does not make money when customer transactions are liquidated. Hayes also addressed the server problems and explained that an influx of trades on the platform had interfered with their server, noting that the stock market was doing its best to solve these problems.

However, BitMEX is by no means a passive player in the room and regularly makes controversial predictions about crypto currencies. Most recently Hayes published a report in which he explained that he sees Bitcoin as a “sweet spot” falling to $2,000 just weeks after he publicly described Ethereum (ETH) as a “bigger shitcoin” than the American dollar.