U.S. prosecutors discussing surrender agreement with former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes

Arthur Hayes could surrender to U.S. authorities as soon as next month, prosecutors told a New York judge during a February hearing.

According to court documents obtained by The Block, Hayes -- the co-founder and former CEO of the crypto derivatives exchange -- is "currently residing abroad in Singapore" and in discussions with the U.S. government about surrendering and appearing in court in connection with the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit filed last November.

Hayes and other BitMEX co-founders were accused of Bank Secrecy Act violations in an indictment that came alongside a parallel legal effort by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The details were included in a transcript from a court hearing on February 9. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Greenwood told the court according to the obtained transcript:

"We with respect to defendant Hayes have discussed a surrender date of April 6, 2021 in Hawaii, and then we will -- I think the plan is to notify the Court in advance of that appearance and discuss logistics for having him surrender and presented in Hawaii and then to remotely appear before your Honor, and so we anticipate making a submission to you about that as we sort of near that date for him to arrive."

She went on to elaborate:

"We have discussed with counsel how to arrange for a voluntary surrender, and he has proposed appearing within the United States in Hawaii and having his initial appearance there and then, subsequent to his presentment in Hawaii, to arrange for a virtual appearance before your Honor rather than appearing in the Southern District of New York physically, that he would appear before your Honor remotely, having surrendered within the United States to the marshals."

Pavel Pogodin, who represents plaintiffs in civil proceedings against BitMEX and its founders, first tweeted about the transcript's contents on Wednesday.

When asked whether Hayes would come to New York directly, Greenwood said that "the idea would be that he would appear initially in Hawaii, then appear before your Honor remotely, and then he would continue to reside abroad with travel to the United States for appearances as needed and, of course, if there is a trial, that he would appear within the United States for that trial in New York."

Greenwood notably added that a bail package is under discussion, in the context of a question about Hayes remaining in Hawaii. Any bail package is subject to approval by the court.

"It would include [an] agreement by the government that he be permitted to continue to reside abroad and that he would be traveling to the United States, if necessary, for court appearances and meetings with counsel," Greenwood said.

Nine days after the hearing, Hayes published a blog post in which he opined on the state of the market and promised more missives in the future.

Per the transcript, the U.S. government has begun extradition proceedings against Greg Dwyer. Greenwood said that "[a]nd we anticipate -- or we understand from counsel that those proceedings will be unopposed, but, like I said, we were not able to negotiate a voluntary surrender with him."

The hearing also touched on Ben Delo, another co-founder, with Greenwood explaining that "[h]e is planning, or at least counsel has represented that he is planning to appear in New York." 

"We are working with the FBI and Border Patrol to obtain immigration authorization for him to be permitted to come here," Greenwood explained. "There are some complications with the UK travel ban and sort of immigration requirements for him, but we have an application pending through the FBI and the Border Patrol and we anticipate him having clearance to travel to appear in New York within the next 30 days, and so our understanding and representation from counsel is that once that approval is in hand, that he will appear in this district to surrender in this case."

The full court transcript can be found below:

L29DREEC by MichaelPatrickMcSweeney on Scribd