BitMEX’s Samuel Reed Released on $5 Million Bond

Samuel Reed, the former Chief Technology Officer and co-founder of Bitcoin derivatives exchange BitMEX, was released after a $5 million appearance bond had been approved by U.S. courts last week, according to court documents.

Reed was required to pay a $500,000 security on the unsecured bond, the document showed.

Earlier this month, the U.S. authorities charged Reed and three others - Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Gregory Dwyer, the BitMEX executive team - for allegedly operating an illegal cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform and failing to comply with mandatory anti-money laundering (AML) practices. 

The document showed Reed's bond was approved on October 3rd on the condition of appearing for court proceedings when summoned and surrender to serve a sentence if convicted of the charges.

The hearing took place via video conference. Reed is being represented by lead attorney William Trach of Latham & Watkins LLP.

Reed was the only one arrested while the others remain at large. All co-founders have stepped down from their executive positions as of October 8th as BitMEX continues to operate with a new executive team.

Apart from the DoJ charges, Hayes, Delo, and Reed were also named in a parallel civil suit filed by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The authority alleges, “[BitMEX] is operating an unregistered trading platform and violating multiple CFTC regulations, including failing to implement required anti-money laundering procedures.”

If convicted of all charges, BitMEX stands to lose billions of dollars in the form of various settlements and lawsuits, according to attorney Stephen Palley.