{"id":64717,"date":"2018-07-03T04:00:26","date_gmt":"2018-07-03T11:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/?p=64717"},"modified":"2020-04-06T01:19:14","modified_gmt":"2020-04-06T00:19:14","slug":"bitmex-co-founder-becomes-britains-first-bitcoin-billionaire-and-youngest-self-made-billionaire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cryptoslate.com\/bitmex-co-founder-becomes-britains-first-bitcoin-billionaire-and-youngest-self-made-billionaire\/","title":{"rendered":"BitMEX Co-Founder becomes Britain’s first Bitcoin billionaire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ben Delo, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX<\/a> is revealed to be Britain's first Bitcoin billionaire and youngest self-made billionaire. Launched in 2014, BitMEX is a Hong Kong-based cryptocurrency exchange valued at around $3.6 billion and handles over $2 billion in daily trading volume.<\/p>\n

A Bitcoin Billionaire's Path<\/h2>\n

Delo, age 34, was born in Sheffield, England, the oldest of four children. As a child, he struggled to behave in class, resulting in him being asked by teachers to leave three primary schools<\/a>.<\/p>\n

At age 16, he wrote that his ambitions were to become an “internet entrepreneur, millionaire and computer programmer.”\u00a0Despite his early troubles, Delo realized the first steps to his goal and earned himself a spot at Oxford where he studied mathematics and computer science.<\/p>\n

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The co-founders of Bitmex from left to right: Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Upon graduation, Ben worked as a software engineer for IBM and a stockbroking firm before moving to Hong Kong to work for JP Morgan. It was in Hong Kong, where he first met BitMEX's other two co-founders Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed.<\/p>\n

The early days of BitMEX were a challenging time \u2013 in order to build the platform, the British billionaire\u00a0recalls working tirelessly for four years, with stretches of 18-hour days. In addition, in order to save money, Delo rented out much of his flat's space to AirBnB users.<\/p>\n

Successfully launched in 2014, BitMEX is now a multi-billion dollar company and offers up to 100x leverage trading and Bitcoin derivatives trading. Handling over $2 billion in trading volume daily, the transaction fees generated with each transaction have made the three co-founders very wealthy men.<\/p>\n

\"BitMEX\"
BitMEX current statistics (Source: BitMEX)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The Sunday Times reports that the co-founders collectively have hundreds of millions sitting in their bank accounts, with the rest of their billionaire status tied to the valuation of the Bitmex platform and crypto assets.<\/p>\n

Despite surpassing the goals he laid out for himself as a youth, Delo still lives in the same flat today and continues to live a frugal lifestyle.<\/p>\n

He recently told The Sunday Times<\/a> that he intends to sign the Giving Pledge, a campaign that encourages the super-rich to give a majority of their wealth to charitable causes.<\/p>\n

Volatility is Key<\/h2>\n

While 2018 has not been a great year for bitcoin's value so far, it has been good for BitMEX. In an interview with CNBC, BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes<\/a> stated,<\/p>\n

“For us, we do good volume on up days and even better volume on aggressive down days. In 2018, we have tripled what we have done in 2017 already.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n