Is BitMEX Manipulating the Price of Ether; CEO Arthur Hayes Claims ETH Will Drop Below $100
It’s been a rough week for Ethereum holders who have watched the currency slide beneath $190 USD. Amidst the slide, however, the crypto community was just hit with a shocking claim: BitMEX is being accused of manipulating the price of Ethereum.
As spotted by Trustnodes, the CEO of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, recently showed up in a group chat where he appeared to tell users to short ETH.
Does Hayes know something we don’t know? Is BitMEX manipulating the price of Ether? The news sent the crypto community into a flurry of speculation.
Here’s what Hayes said in the chat using his official BitMEX account, BitMEX_Arthur, in response to the launch of 50x leveraged ETH/USD perpetual swap trading:
“If you are a bitcoin based speculator this is the perfect way to punt on the ETH/USD price.”
“You never need to touch that shitcoin called Ether,” added Arthur, “Or the bigger shitcoin USD.”
To “punt” something, in this situation, means to kick it aside.
Arthur Hayes was more diplomatic when announcing the ETH/USD perpetual swap on Twitter, saying:
“50x leveraged ETHUSD perpetual swap is now live! Trade using only bitcoin, you never have to touch Ether or USD.”
Nevertheless, Hayes clearly has issues not just with Ethereum, but also with the USD. It’s unclear where this dislike comes from. However, members of the crypto community are finding it unusual that the CEO of a major exchange would be so outspoken against a specific cryptocurrency, especially given the high trading activity of ETH/USD perpetual swaps on BitMEX.
Hayes Claims The Price Of ETH Will Drop Below $100
The price of ETH was above $1,000 at the height of the crypto boom. Today, the price has fallen below $200 amidst a struggling bear market.
BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes, however, believes there is still more room for ETH to fall.
In a BitMEX newsletter sent to announce the ETHUSD perpetual swap, Hayes told subscribers that ETH was “a double digit” coin, suggesting that the price of ETH will drop below $100 USD.
BitMEX Clearly Hates Ethereum But It Handles $3 Billion of Daily ETH Trading Volume
Based on BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes’ tweets and statements, he and his company clearly hate Ethereum.
Despite the hate for Ethereum and Ether (ETH), however, BitMEX continues to handle a reported $3 billion of trading volume every day in the ETH/USD perpetual swap alone.
Nevertheless, TrustNodes claims they “don’t really believe” that number. It’s unclear how much trading activity is occurring per day in the ETH/USD perpetual swap.
BitMEX pioneered the idea of perpetual swaps, which are unique futures contracts that pay “perpetually” based on your position. While BitMEX was the first cryptocurrency exchange to launch such a product, other exchanges have recently followed suit to challenge BitMEX’s position.
Hayes Does Not Officially Allow American Users
Another controversy facing BitMEX is the presence of American users. The exchange’s own terms of service prohibit trading access “for any person that is located in or a resident of the United States of America, Québec (Canada), Cuba, Crimea and Sevastopol, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Sudan, or any other jurisdiction where the services offered by BitMEX are restricted.”
Despite this warning, however, Hayes appears to be an American using his exchange to trade cryptocurrencies. As reported by Trustnodes:
“Arthur Hayes himself is, however, American and appears on American TV studios, which means he is currently residing in USA and is obviously using Bitmex as shown by the screenshot above.”
Trustnodes goes on to explain that:
“it is probable the vast majority of BitMEX customers are from America and it is probable BitMEX is fully aware of it.”
Trustnodes also adds that BitMEX is “unregulated, with no oversight or any accountability”, and they “apply no identification requirements” to users, despite the fact that Americans are banned from the exchange.
Ultimately, BitMEX is clearly one of the more “unique” cryptocurrency exchanges in the space. The recent statements from BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes reinforce that idea and introduce added controversy to the exchange. We’ll keep an eye on BitMEX’s ETH/USD perpetual swaps moving forward.
