Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has taken on the role of CEO at Flop Labs, a company developing a protocol for AI agents to transact for computing and decentralized memory services using its native Flop (FLOP) token.
Hayes announced his appointment in a post on X, stating he was "coming out of retirement" to lead the project. The protocol, branded as a "proof-of-useful-inference" system, is designed to allow AI agents to spend FLOP tokens for inference and memory services. Flop Labs has scheduled a "massive airdrop" of FLOP tokens for the fourth quarter of 2026, with the network’s genesis block set to launch in early 2027. Further details regarding the airdrop and network launch are expected to be disclosed at a later date.
Hayes, who co-founded cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX in 2014, stepped down as its CEO in October 2020. Earlier this year, BitMEX announced plans to shut down its exchange operations on September 23, 2026.
