Renowned economist Nouriel Roubini has just ramped up his campaign against Seychelles based crypto exchange BitMEX, by releasing a report alleging that the exchange’s CEO Arthur Hayes might be openly involved in systematic illegal activities. It’s worth noting that the NYU ‘Stern School of Business Economics’ Professor had a heated debated with Hayes in during the Asia Blockchain Summit on July 3.
My new column where I expose the shady rekting racket that is @BitMEXdotcom run by the thug @CryptoHayes: evasion of AML/KYC, front-running, insider trading, massive scale money laundering, gouging of clients, etc.
The Great Crypto Heist by Nouriel Roubini https://t.co/79UsmlZxdr— Nouriel Roubini (@Nouriel) July 16, 2019
Roubini is one of the most prominent critics of cryptocurrencies and blockchain tech globally. He has often accused digital currencies of assisting terror funding, and other such anti-social activities. He had been vocally criticizing crypto companies for a long time, however, has adopted an even more aggressive approach since his debate with Hayes.
In his recent article criticizing crypto, Roubini accuses BitMEX CEO Hayes,
“boasted openly that the BitMEX business model involves peddling to ‘degenerate gamblers’ crypto derivatives with 100-to-one leverage.”
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In 100-to-one leverage, Roubini says, a slight difference of even a percentage change in the price of the tokens could cause a margin call, wiping out entire investments of users. He further added,
“BitMEX insiders revealed to me that this exchange is also used daily for money laundering on a massive scale by terrorists and other criminals from Russia, Iran, and elsewhere; the exchange does nothing to stop this, as it profits from these transactions.”
Roubini also accused that Hayes had secured exclusive rights over the video recording of the conference in which they debated earlier this month in Taipei. Hayes, Roubini continues, released bits of the videos to portray as if he won the debate, but after his own supporters shamed him, he released the full video.
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Roubini is not the only one who thinks that cryptocurrencies are a scam. Just a few days ago, none other than the US President Donald Trump tweeted that he isn’t a fan of Bitcoin or crypto, and further added that digital currencies are used for anti-social activities like drug trafficking.
