Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX, believes that Bitcoin is a retail investor led phenomenon that shows no signs of stopping. With just a day left before his debate with crypto skeptic Nouriel Roubini, Hayes revealed that BitMEX is launching a new Bitcoin-based fixed income product,  providing holders with passive income.

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and CEO of BitMEX, has been one of the most vocal critics of Dr. Nouriel Roubini, an economist notorious for his skepticism of the crypto industry. Following a heated back-and-forth on Twitter, the two are set to debate on stage at the 2019 Asia Blockchain Summit on Wednesday, July 3.

In an interview with Bloomberg’s DayBreak: Asia, Hays called Roubini a “hater” and “nocoiner” for saying that the trading volumes reported by crypto exchanges were fake and there was no real action going on in the industry.

Hayes then pointed out that BitMEX recently saw its highest 24-hour trading record—$60 billion, and recorded over a trillion dollars in trades in the past year.

“The trading volumes speak for themselves. There’s something going on here in crypto and the price action and volumes speak for themselves,” he explained.

Our hero in Taipei @CryptoHayes: "@Nouriel is a hater, a nocoiner"

"There's real trading going on, $1 trillion over the past year"

"Bitcoin is a retail investor led phenomenon"

part 1 of 3 pic.twitter.com/651DNepoJI

— Pierre Rochard (@pierre_rochard) July 2, 2019

When asked what could be behind Bitcoin’s parabolic rise this year, Hayes said that the positive sentiment towards cryptocurrencies is back. He believes Bitcoin is a retail investor-led market and that more and more people have realized that Bitcoin could offer great returns on investment.

BitMEX has long been seen not only as a leading crypto exchange but also as a leading provider of various crypto derivative products. The increased interest in putting cryptocurrencies into traditional trading products has made the perpetual Bitcoin swap one of BitMEX’s most popular products.

Hayes told Bloomberg that the product, which has no expiry date, trades between $5 and $10 billion per day. The exchange also offers its user the ability to trade Ethereum, EOS, TRON, and other altcoins on leverage. But, their perpetual Bitcoin swaps are the most popular and the most liquid trading product for crypto.

This is why BitMEX’s plans to diversify their products were unexpected. Hayes explained that the exchange wanted to venture into fixed income products, and is already working on finalizing the project.

“In the next few weeks, we will be revealing that we have the first Bitcoin Zero Coupon Bond with a few counterparties that we have identified.”

"@BitMEXdotcom bitcoin perpetual swaps are the most liquid market"

part 3 of 3 pic.twitter.com/BcYlXiBAJ5

— Pierre Rochard (@pierre_rochard) July 2, 2019

Hayes went on to say that the company wanted to start a market where people can actually earn a yield on their Bitcoin by investing and loaning Bitcoin to some of the most stable companies in the space.

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