Arthur Hayes announces Flop Labs to develop AI agent cryptocurrency

Arthur Hayes, co-founder of BitMEX, has announced his return from retirement to lead Flop Labs, a startup developing a cryptocurrency named FLOP designed for an economy driven by AI agents. The project describes itself as a proof-of-useful-inference protocol where AI agents utilize FLOP to pay for computing power and memory.

Hayes has committed to a 100% fair launch, stating there will be no presale and no venture capital involvement. A massive airdrop of the FLOP token is scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2026, notably preceding the launch of the underlying blockchain, which is expected to reach its genesis block in the first quarter of 2027.