BitMEX Co-Founder Arthur Hayes Launches Flop Labs with AI-Powered Currency

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, is coming out of retirement to lead Flop Labs, a new venture building the Flop Network and its native FLOP token. The project aims to create a currency for AI agents that can make payments and complete transactions without human intervention.

The idea behind Flop Labs is centered around the question of what happens when AI agents start doing business on their own. Today, AI tools can already perform tasks for people, but many still rely on humans to make payments or decide what happens next. The Flop Network will support this activity by allowing AI agents to handle more tasks independently.

FLOP would be the native currency of the network, enabling AI agents to pay for computing power, negotiate services, and settle transactions with other AI agents. Hayes emphasized that the project will have a 100% fair launch, without any presale or venture capital allocation. A large airdrop is planned for Q4 2026, and the genesis block is targeted for Q1 2027.