BitMEX

Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange (closed 2026)Founded 2014- HQ today: Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles

Founders

Who Founded BitMEX?

Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, Samuel Reed · Founded 2014 · HQ today: Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles

Who founded BitMEX?

BitMEX was founded by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, Samuel Reed in 2014. It is now led by Peter Wilkinson.

Founders: Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, Samuel Reed
Founded: 2014
Headquarters: Victoria, Mahé, Seychelles
Number of founders: 3
Current CEO: Peter Wilkinson (since 2026)

Where was BitMEX founded?: BitMEX was founded in Victoria, Seychelles in 2014.
When was BitMEX founded?: BitMEX was founded in 2014.
Who started BitMEX?: BitMEX was founded by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed.
How old is BitMEX?: BitMEX is 12 years old as of 2026.

Founding Story

Arthur Hayes traded equity derivatives at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in Hong Kong until Citi let him go in 2013. He started trading Bitcoin and saw that crypto had no professional derivatives venue. With Ben Delo, an Oxford-trained developer who had built trading systems, and Samuel Reed, a software engineer, he launched BitMEX in November 2014 with money from family and friends, a small SAFE round in July 2015 and a place in SOSV's Chinaccelerator program. Early futures barely traded. The turning point came in May 2016 with XBTUSD, a Bitcoin perpetual swap that never expired.

What each BitMEX founder did

Founder	Role at founding	Contribution	Source
Arthur Hayes	Co-founder & CEO	—	en.wikipedia.org
Ben Delo	Co-founder	—	en.wikipedia.org
Samuel Reed	Co-founder & CTO	—	—

Arthur Hayes

Co-founder 2014

Background

A Wharton economics graduate (2008) who traded equity derivatives and made markets in ETFs at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in Hong Kong before Citi laid him off in 2013. That background shaped BitMEX as a derivatives venue built around leverage and professional order flow.

Role at BitMEX

Arthur Hayes co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and led it as CEO through the launch of the XBTUSD perpetual swap in 2016 and its 2018-2019 peak. He stepped back in October 2020 after US charges, pleaded guilty in 2022 to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program, served probation and was pardoned in March 2025. He now runs family office Maelstrom as CIO and is one of crypto's best-known macro writers.

Arthur Hayes was born in 1985 in Detroit. Education: Nichols School.

Ben Delo

Co-founder 2014

Background

Studied mathematics and computer science at Worcester College, Oxford, then wrote software at IBM and J.P. Morgan and high-frequency trading systems at GSA Capital.

Role at BitMEX

Ben Delo co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and worked on its trading engine and contract design. Reported as the UK's first Bitcoin billionaire in 2018, he signed the Giving Pledge in 2019. He pleaded guilty in February 2022 to a Bank Secrecy Act violation, received 30 months of probation and was pardoned in March 2025. In September 2026 he donated a record ~$47.5 million (£36 million) to Reform UK.

Ben Delo was born in 1984 in Sheffield. Education: Lord Williams's School.

Samuel Reed

Co-founder 2014

Background

A software engineer who led BitMEX's technology as CTO, including the web platform, API and trading infrastructure used by algorithmic traders.

Role at BitMEX

Samuel Reed co-founded BitMEX in 2014 and served as CTO until October 2020. He was arrested in Massachusetts when US charges were unsealed, pleaded guilty in March 2022 to a Bank Secrecy Act violation, was sentenced to probation and was pardoned in March 2025. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).

BitMEX: CEO & Leadership History

Full timeline →

Peter Wilkinson

CEO

2026 – Present

Appointed as CEO during the company's darkest regulatory crisis, he managed the massive legal fallout and paid the $100 million CFTC fine to keep the platform operational.

Stephan Lutz

CEO

2022 – 2026

A former PwC partner who ran BitMEX for nearly four years before leaving in June 2026.

Alexander Höptner

CEO

2021 – 2022

Brought stock-exchange governance from Börse Stuttgart and repositioned BitMEX as a regulated-style venue.

Vivien Khoo

Interim CEO

2020 – 2021

Held the business together during the first months of the enforcement cases and the move to mandatory identity checks.

Arthur Hayes

Co-founder & CEO

2014 – 2020

Turned BitMEX into the leading Bitcoin derivatives exchange of 2018-2019 and helped make the perpetual swap the industry standard.

Keep researching BitMEX

Who Founded BitMEX? FAQ

Who founded BitMEX?

Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed founded BitMEX in 2014. The operator's name, HDR Global Trading, comes from their initials.

What were the founders' backgrounds?

Hayes, a Wharton graduate, traded equity derivatives at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup in Hong Kong. Delo studied mathematics and computer science at Oxford and built trading software, including high-frequency systems at GSA Capital. Reed was a software engineer who served as CTO.

Were the BitMEX founders convicted?

Yes. Hayes and Delo pleaded guilty on February 24, 2022 and Reed on March 9, 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Hayes received two years of probation with six months of home confinement, Delo 30 months of probation, and Reed probation.

Were the BitMEX founders pardoned?

Yes. In March 2025 President Trump pardoned Hayes, Delo, Reed and former business development head Gregory Dwyer, and also pardoned the company, HDR Global Trading.

What are the BitMEX founders doing now?

Hayes is CIO of family office Maelstrom and writes widely read macro essays. In September 2026 Delo gave Reform UK ~$47.5 million (£36 million), a record UK political donation. Reports during the sale said the founders still held a majority stake in BitMEX.

Related Founder Profiles

Compare founding stories, origins, and entrepreneurial journeys

Competitor

Explore BitMEX

Core profile pages, founders and related research hubs for this company.

Who founded BitMEX?

Founding Story

What each BitMEX founder did

Arthur Hayes

Background

Role at BitMEX

Ben Delo

Background

Role at BitMEX

Samuel Reed

Background

Role at BitMEX

BitMEX: CEO & Leadership History

Keep researching BitMEX

Who Founded BitMEX? FAQ

Who founded BitMEX?

What were the founders' backgrounds?

Were the BitMEX founders convicted?

Were the BitMEX founders pardoned?

What are the BitMEX founders doing now?

Related Founder Profiles

Binance

Okx

Deribit

Kraken

Coinbase

Bitfinex