The government’s indictment shouldn’t be treated as the “truth,” of course, but the facts are damning and extremely shady—these guys were claiming they were operating a foreign entity for non-US citizens (to trade crummy crypto derivatives), but they were actually doing it from an office in Manhattan and selling to people in the US and helping them conceal it. They also made sure that BitMEX skirted the rules to prevent money laundering, which is, of course, a huge portion of crypto transactions.
So yeah. Hard to argue it’s just some minor compliance issue. At the sentencing the defense lawyers argued that it “wasn’t as bad as Silk Road”—which, big whoop. The defendants pleaded guilty, the company was fined hundreds of millions of dollars, and Delo had to pay a $10 million fine, which is substantial.
IS it the worst thing ever? No, but this guy clearly plays fast and loose with ethics and does a super shady kind of business.
I wish I lived in a society where this question was not necessary, but: Was this a “victimless crime”; else, who were the victims and what did they lose?
I don’t think itwas a victimless crime. I guess you may have different ideas about white collar crime and money laundering. But you’ll have to read the indictment to form your own opinion. You can also read the civil suit filed by investors who allege they were screwed out of millions: https://t.co/SKI7JXPVFM
When they tried get their money back, Delo taunted them with a meme about being incorporated in the Seychelles (despite, again, actually being based in the US doing business with US customers). Really does not seem like an upstanding guy.
If it’s as the plaintiffs represent, I agree that’s pretty damning. Is it known, aside from the complaint itself, that the plaintiffs are telling the truth and the whole truth? Don’t suppose you have a link to the meme taunt?
Yes, it’s in the complaint, here’s a screenshot (where the CEO also talks about it being easier to bribe officials in the Seychelles with “a coconut”: https://i.imgur.com/qd6X4LC.png
I don’t know anything about the plaintiffs, but I assume BitMEX’s lawyers certainly thought a jury would find them credible, and that’s why they decided to settle for $44M.
Okay; I agree then that it’s reasonable to say of Ben Delo that Hayes and cofounders were accused of trying to defraud two early investors, that Ben Delo is accused of taunting them with a meme, and that they settled out of court.
I do note that this is pretty different from what Vaughan was previously accusing Delo of, which sounded pretty plausibly like a “victimless crime”.
Again, that’s just one of the civil suits. They settled that civil suit, were found liable in another, and Delo also pleaded guilty to federal charges after BitMEX was used to launder stolen crypto.
Not good! And if that’s the person you’ve been publicly celebrating for contributing to your org, it’s not permissible to sweep it under the rug afterwards just because it’s not as high profile as something like, say, SBF’s fraud.
I don’t, in fact, take federal charges like that seriously—I view it as a case of living in a world with bad laws and processes—but I do take seriously the notion of betraying an investor’s investment and trust.
We still don’t have a clue about Ben Delo, afaik.
The BitMEX indictment is here: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/founders-and-executives-shore-cryptocurrency-derivatives-exchange-charged-violation#_ftn1
The government’s indictment shouldn’t be treated as the “truth,” of course, but the facts are damning and extremely shady—these guys were claiming they were operating a foreign entity for non-US citizens (to trade crummy crypto derivatives), but they were actually doing it from an office in Manhattan and selling to people in the US and helping them conceal it. They also made sure that BitMEX skirted the rules to prevent money laundering, which is, of course, a huge portion of crypto transactions.
So yeah. Hard to argue it’s just some minor compliance issue. At the sentencing the defense lawyers argued that it “wasn’t as bad as Silk Road”—which, big whoop. The defendants pleaded guilty, the company was fined hundreds of millions of dollars, and Delo had to pay a $10 million fine, which is substantial.
IS it the worst thing ever? No, but this guy clearly plays fast and loose with ethics and does a super shady kind of business.
I wish I lived in a society where this question was not necessary, but: Was this a “victimless crime”; else, who were the victims and what did they lose?
I don’t think itwas a victimless crime. I guess you may have different ideas about white collar crime and money laundering. But you’ll have to read the indictment to form your own opinion. You can also read the civil suit filed by investors who allege they were screwed out of millions: https://t.co/SKI7JXPVFM
When they tried get their money back, Delo taunted them with a meme about being incorporated in the Seychelles (despite, again, actually being based in the US doing business with US customers). Really does not seem like an upstanding guy.
But check them out for yourself.
If it’s as the plaintiffs represent, I agree that’s pretty damning. Is it known, aside from the complaint itself, that the plaintiffs are telling the truth and the whole truth? Don’t suppose you have a link to the meme taunt?
Yes, it’s in the complaint, here’s a screenshot (where the CEO also talks about it being easier to bribe officials in the Seychelles with “a coconut”: https://i.imgur.com/qd6X4LC.png
I don’t know anything about the plaintiffs, but I assume BitMEX’s lawyers certainly thought a jury would find them credible, and that’s why they decided to settle for $44M.
Okay; I agree then that it’s reasonable to say of Ben Delo that Hayes and cofounders were accused of trying to defraud two early investors, that Ben Delo is accused of taunting them with a meme, and that they settled out of court.
I do note that this is pretty different from what Vaughan was previously accusing Delo of, which sounded pretty plausibly like a “victimless crime”.
Again, that’s just one of the civil suits. They settled that civil suit, were found liable in another, and Delo also pleaded guilty to federal charges after BitMEX was used to launder stolen crypto.
Not good! And if that’s the person you’ve been publicly celebrating for contributing to your org, it’s not permissible to sweep it under the rug afterwards just because it’s not as high profile as something like, say, SBF’s fraud.
I don’t, in fact, take federal charges like that seriously—I view it as a case of living in a world with bad laws and processes—but I do take seriously the notion of betraying an investor’s investment and trust.
(the plaintiffs in that suit ended up getting $44 million, by the way)