Malaya Ruiz
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) said BitMEX, a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) between 2015 and 2020. The Seychelles-headquartered exchange responded by claiming there is no new information in this case.
In a press release, Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and Christie M. Curtis, acting assistant director for the FBI’s New York Field Office, disclosed that HDR Global Trading Limited, the parent company of BitMEX, was accused of deliberately neglecting to establish and maintain an effective Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program while conducting business in the United States, as mandated by federal law.
“As a result, BitMEX opened itself up as a vehicle for large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion schemes, posing a serious threat to the integrity of the financial system. Today’s guilty plea indicates again the need for cryptocurrency companies to comply with U.S. law if they take advantage of the U.S. market,” Williams said.
In response, BitMEX issued a statement dismissing the issue as dated and clarified that it is the same charge that was leveled against its founders in 2020. The founders reportedly acknowledged the violations and were sentenced in 2022. BitMEX said it has already taken corrective measures and asserted that the BSA charge was “old news.”
“We have accepted the BSA charge, will seek an expedited sentencing hearing, and argue that no further fine should be imposed, given the substantial amounts already paid by our founders under the BSA charges brought against them, and under our no admission/no denial settlements with the CFTC and FinCEN in 2021,” the statement read.
The exchange added that it has rolled out a robust compliance framework in 2020 to comply with Anti-Money Laundering and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) regulations across all locations of operation. As part of this update, BitMEX has introduced a comprehensive Know Your Customer (KYC) program which outlines the standards applied to all retail and corporate customers through specific policies and procedures.
BitMEX emphasized that the recent news from the DOJ has no bearing on its business operations, which will continue as per usual.
BitMEX founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed pleaded guilty to the AML negligence case in 2022, after which each of them received a $10 million civil penalty. In February of the same year, Hayes and Delo agreed to pay their penalties, while Reed agreed to pay his after pleading guilty in March. U.S. regulators reached a $100 million settlement with the crypto trading platform in August that year.
Established in 2014 and registered in the Seychelles, BitMEX is a prominent platform for cryptocurrency derivatives trading, allowing users to purchase futures and perpetual swap contracts for various digital assets.
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Malaya has positions in SHIB, ETH, USDT, MATIC, etc. This article is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as financial advice. The Shib Magazine and The Shib Daily are the official publications of the Shiba Inu cryptocurrency project. Readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult with a qualified financial adviser before making any investment decisions.
