Unlike most projects in the crypto space, BitMEX came to life with no major funding. Our founders, Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed, and Ben Delo, started from scratch with the vision of building a Bitcoin derivatives exchange – at a time when the crypto ecosystem was picking itself up from the ashes of Mt. Gox.
Within six months after our founders first met, they brought an alpha online and started the BitMEX Trading Challenge, a no-rules trading competition to put the exchange through its paces. They paid out a few Bitcoin in bug bounties in those days and didn’t see any major failures.
Fast forward to 24 November 2014, BitMEX – the Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange – came to life. Arthur and Ben marked the milestone in Hong Kong, while Sam celebrated all the way from Croatia during his honeymoon.
Today, BitMEX is home to a global community of traders, having grown from zero to billions. We now serve clients worldwide and print a daily trading volume of over $610m.
Our decade-long journey has been spent marking many firsts in the crypto world – from launching the world’s first perpetual swap to becoming the first exchange to lose 0 customer funds. We’ve been setting standards that are now considered non-negotiables in the industry.
So how exactly did we get here? We stuck by the first rule of Bitcoin: Don’t lose the Bitcoin. As Bitcoin experts building for Bitcoin enthusiasts, it’s always been about leading with security and transparency – just like how Bitcoin was built. It has and continues to dictate everything we do at BitMEX. Case in point – we’ve been using a 100% cold wallet since day one, where every transaction is multisig. We understood that Bitcoin custodianship requires constant vigilance, and we never compromised safety for convenience.
Technology talk aside, this journey wouldn’t have been possible without the support of our OG traders – from those who’ve grown up with us (you know who you are), to those who’ve just joined the BitMEX ride. Without a user base that truly understood the value behind why we operated the way we did, we would not be standing where we are today.
So this message is dedicated to our traaders. Thank you for sticking with us through thick and thin. We hope to serve you many more trading opportunities (and liquidations) in the years to come.
To mark this major milestone, we’ll be launching the ‘Decade of BitMEX’ global campaign starting 25 November 2024. New, returning, and existing users will be able to compete for a prize pool worth $1 million through various offer schemes. The campaign will include BitMEX’s biggest-ever trading competition, also starting 25 November.
Don’t miss out – make sure to check out what we have in store for you here.
Follow our 10-year journey, share and like our posts on X as we celebrate #BitMEX10Years!
Best,
The BitMEX Team