BitMEX Founder Hayes Avoids Prison on Bank Secrecy Charge (1)

BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes was spared from prison despite admitting he failed to guard against money laundering at the pioneering cryptocurrency exchange, which the US blames for hundreds of millions of dollars in shady transactions.

On Friday a federal judge sentenced Hayes to two years’ probation, after Hayes and BitMEX’s other founders were charged in 2020 with violating the Bank Secrecy Act, which requires the establishment of such safeguards, including verifying the identities of an exchange’s customers.

Hayes, who was ordered to spend the first six months of his sentence in home confinement, avoided time behind bars even though …