BitMEX Penalized for Ignoring AML Rules
A U.S. federal court has fined HDR Global Trading Limited, the operator of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, $100 million and handed it two years of unsupervised probation.
The penalty comes six months after BitMEX admitted to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), primarily for failing to implement a robust anti-money laundering (AML) program. The court highlighted that the exchange replaced traditional KYC measures with a simple email verification process.
Whilst we are disappointed to learn of the imposition of an additional financial penalty, the amount is substantially less than what the Department of Justice have been pursuing us for over 3 years,
BitMEX commented.
In December, U.S. authorities accused BitMEX of unlawfully receiving more than $155 million from U.S.-based entities and users, pushing for a $417 million fine. However, following this latest ruling, the court dismissed the remaining charges, a move seen as a partial victory for BitMEX.
BitMEX has faced its share of regulatory battles. In 2022, the platform’s co-founders paid $30 million in a civil case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Additionally, BitMEX was previously ordered to pay $100 million in penalties to the same regulator.
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