Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes is a name that you may be familiar with. He is the founder of BitMEX, one of the world’s leading bitcoin and digital asset exchanges. In 2017, Hayes made headlines when his exchange was hacked and $1 million worth of bitcoin was stolen. Although Hayes has since recovered from the incident and continues to run BitMEX, his story is a perfect example of the volatility and risk associated with cryptocurrency investments. In this blog post, we will explore the rise and fall of Bitcoin Billionaire Arthur Hayes and how you can avoid similar missteps in your own investment portfolio.
Arthur Hayes Background
Arthur Hayes is a computer scientist and entrepreneur who has been involved in the development of Bitcoin since its early days. He is also a co-founder of BitMEX, one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges.
Hayes’ involvement with Bitcoin began in 2011 when he created BitInstant, an online platform that allowed users to buy and sell bitcoins. The company quickly became one of the most popular ways to purchase bitcoins, and by 2014 it had processed over $1 billion worth of transactions.
However, Hayes’ success with BitInstant was short-lived. In 2015, he was charged with money laundering by the US government after reportedly helping users skirt currency laws. He was later released on bail but his company bitmit ceased operations as a result of the charges.
Since then, Hayes has focused more on his work at BitMEX, which is now one of the world’s largest bitcoin exchanges. The platform has enabled users to trade bitcoins for fiat currencies and other cryptocurrencies, making it a major player in the market.
Hayes Becomes a Bitcoin Millionaire
In early 2014, Arthur Hayes became a Bitcoin millionaire. At the time, the value of a single bitcoin was just below $100. As of November 2017, the value of a single bitcoin is more than $11,000.
How did Arthur Hayes become a Bitcoin millionaire?
Arthur Hayes first became interested in Bitcoin in 2013. At the time, there were only about 1000 bitcoins in circulation, and they were worth about $100 each.
Arthur Hayes is an economist and co-founder of BitMEX, one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges. BitMEX allows users to trade cryptocurrency derivatives such as futures and options.
As the demand for Bitcoin derivatives increased, so did the value of Hayes’s holdings. By early 2014, his bitcoins were worth over $1 million.
The Mt. Gox Price Crash of 2014
The Mt. Gox Price Crash of 2014
In early 2014, the price of Bitcoin plummeted, dropping from around $1,100 to around $600. The cause of the crash is still a mystery, but many people attribute it to a hack on the Mt. Gox exchange. In total, 850,000 Bitcoins (around $500 million at the time) were stolen.
This event marked the beginning of the end for Mt. Gox. Despite attempts by CEO Mark Karpeles to fix the exchange, it eventually filed for bankruptcy in February 2015. This led to the disappearance of a large amount of Bitcoin, and has caused concern among some investors about whether digital currencies are really safe and stable investments.
Hayes’ Recent Struggles
Arthur Hayes, the founder and CEO of BitMEX, has been in the news recently for all the wrong reasons.
First, Hayes was accused of insider trading by his own employees. BitMEX has since suspended this activity.
Next, SEC commissioner Hester Peirce released a scathing report on digital assets, concluding that many are nothing more than an “empty shell” with no real value.
And finally, Hayes’ company BitMEX was hacked for around $30 million in June.
What Comes Next for Arthur Hayes?
Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX, has seen his net worth fall by more than $1 billion since January. His company, BitMEX, is one of the world’s largest and most influential exchanges for trading digital assets. The fall in Hayes’ fortunes coincides with a broad pullback in the value of cryptocurrencies globally.
In early January 2018, Hayes was one of the richest people in the world. His estimated net worth was around $2.8 billion according to Bloomberg. That month, he made headlines when he predicted that Bitcoin would reach $25,000 by the end of the year. Bitcoin hit that target within days of his prediction and has since fallen by over 70% from its highpoint.
The pullback in cryptocurrency values has had a negative impact on BitMEX as well. In December 2017, Hayes announced that his company had raised $200 million in new investment funds. Since then, however, the value of cryptocurrencies has declined and so have BitMEX’s revenues. As a result, Hayes’ net worth has fallen by $1 billion – from $3.4 billion to $2.7 billion as of January 2018 – and this decline is continuing fast.”
Conclusion
Arthur Hayes’ meteoric rise and fall as a bitcoin millionaire has captured the attention of the media and drawn comparisons to another recent financial scandal: Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. However, there are some key differences between the two cases that may shed light on why Hayes’ investment empire quickly unraveled. Whereas Madoff invested his clients’ money into high-return assets, Hayes placed his faith in digital currency – a volatile and largely unregulated market. Once news of his schemes began to spread, bitcoin prices plummeted, causing Hayes’ fortune to evaporate rapidly.
