Samuel Reed, co-founder and CTO of the BitMEX crypto derivatives exchange, was released on $5 million bail.
Reed was arrested in Massachusetts on October 1. The US Department of Justice has opened a criminal case against Reed and other BitMEX executives for violating bank secrecy laws and "willfully refusing to develop, implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) program on the exchange."
The bail was approved on October 3, subject to participation in the trial. If convicted, Reed will surrender to serve his sentence.
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The court session took place on October 1 via videoconference. It is also reported that Reed and his wife's passports were seized. The other co-founders of BitMEX (Arthur Hayes and Ben Delo), as well as Gregory Dwyer, head of the exchange's business development, remain at large. BitMEX announced yesterday that all four executives had been removed from office over allegations.
After the indictment, open interest in the bitcoin futures market, BitMEX, has dropped from over $ 1 billion to less than $ 600 million. Trading volumes have also declined.