BitMEX Derivatives Exchange Operator Rebrands to '100x'

HDR Global Trading, parent company of derivatives trading platform BitMEX, has undergone a perhaps controversial rebranding.

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In a Wednesday company blog post, BitMEX/HDR founder and CEO Arthur Hayes announced the parent entity now has a new name: "100x."
Hayes said the change would open the firm up to "new opportunities and investments" amid the rise in digital financial systems around the world.
Seychelles-based 100x will now be the holding entity for BitMEX and the group's other assets.
The BitMEX platform and brand will remain unchanged.
While the holding firm's new name could appear to be a reference to leverage – using borrowed funds for derivatives trading – Hayes claims differently.
Any financial service industry that functions on the practices of "opacity, obfuscation and deference to anointed experts" is "fair game for destruction by 100x," he said.
BitMEX and similar crypto trading platforms have been criticized for offering high levels of leverage that some say bring too much risk for inexperienced traders.
Last summer, a Chinese bitcoin trader committed suicide after a 100x position was liquidated, losing him about $16.4 million in a single trade, according to media reports.
BitMEX recently appointed a former Bank of China executive as non-executive chairman of HDR in order to turn the parent business into a "world-class financial technology company."

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