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The Australian bitcoin mogul at the centre of an epic crypto scandal
If the pictures of Lamborghinis lined up outside bitcoin conferences in Manhattan or jet skis bobbing in the crystal clear waters of Bermuda are anything to go by, working at leading cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading platform BitMEX was a sweet gig.
That was especially so for its first employee, Australian born and raised Greg Dwyer. Joining BitMEX in 2015, which grew into a $US3 billion ($3.9 billion) financial behemoth in just a few years, must have seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime for Dwyer. Until it all came crashing down last year.
Last October, the exchange’s four owners were accused by US authorities of flouting sanctions with Iran and allowing organised criminals to launder potentially billions of dollars through their exchange. The disappearance of the public face of BitMEX, its charismatic and telegenic founder Arthur Hayes, has captivated the American financial media and inspired a Vanity Fair feature.
What has not been revealed until now is the involvement of an Australian in the BitMEX saga. For the first time, The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald can tell the story of how a 37-year-old maths whiz from the Sydney suburb of Gordon, a graduate of the prestigious St Ignatius College, Riverview and Sydney University, is at the centre of one of the biggest scandals in the cryptocurrency world’s short history.
https://www.theage.com.au/business/markets/the-australian-bitcoin-mogul-at-the-centre-of-an-epic-crypto-scandal-20210211-p571mz.html