Arthur Hayes: Proof-of-Jurisdiction
Awhile back, when BitMEX was first indicted by authorities, I wrote about how, despite the perceived weaknesses of the US empire, the US is still an empire. Jurisdiction is a mirage, I said.
To everyone’s delight, including my own, after this, Arthur Hayes, CEO of BitMEX, took off. Few, besides the insiders at BitMEX, friends, and family, knew what had happened to him or where he’d gone. Was he cooperating with authorities in some capacity? Was he going to make a mad-dash for the rest of his life? Was the plan to move to a non-extradition country, or… ?
There were Vanity Fair articles crooning about how Hayes had been done wrong, there were tweets from journalists basically asking anyone to step up and say what was going on, a beautiful mystery that all of cryptocurrency Twitter was speculating on.
Plot Twist but Predictable Ending 3/10 Would Not Recommend
And out of the vast darkness of silence came the brilliant, emanating words of a persecuted Hayes. And what were these powerful words?
The article amounts to Hayes discussing some of the problems facing retail traders using RobinHood or other brokers and how the short squeeze broke. His solution? Of course, Bitcoin and cryptocurrency.
Nonetheless, the article, posted on February 18th, was celebrated as the valiant return of a confident and bold cryptocurrency superhero, without permission from the authorities.
But the article proved to be a false hope for ultimate freedom, as today (March 3rd, 2021) we discovered that Hayes is in discussion with authorities for a surrender date in Hawaii.
This seemed to be as much of surprise to the court as it is to you and I:
It’s only at this point that we find out that Hayes has apparently been in Singapore the whole time and plans on traveling between Singapore and Hawaii when necessary to fulfill the requirements of the court:
Get To the Point and Now What?
Basically, 2/3 defendants have voluntarily agreed to hand themselves over, while one, Greg Dwyer, has refused to surrender. Extradition proceedings have begun for him in the country he resides: Bermuda.
This article is a very simple restatement of the fact that it’s nearly impossible to outrun the long arm of the law: it seems to exist everywhere and all at once, and something as simple as jurisdiction usually won’t get you out of its ramifications. There’s a lot of other actions going on right now in the cryptocurrency space, from the case against Reggie Fowler and Crypto Capital Corp, to the consequences of the settlement between iFinex and the NYAG.
Keep your eyes peeled and, as always, stay skeptical, friends.