The company will split the payment between two government agencies: the CFTC and FinCEN. BitMEX received accusations for offering leveraged and unlicensed products in the United States of America.
A US court decided that the platform for the exchange of derivatives of bitcoin (BTC) and cryptocurrencies, BitMEX, will have to complete the payment of a fine that costs at least 100 million dollars.
The Court for the Southern District of New York issued multiple charges against the exchange, including conducting illegal, unlicensed operations and failing to establish “Know Your Customer” (KYC) and anti-money laundering (AML) protocols.
The money would be split between two government agencies following the case: the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crime Control Network (FinCEN). The latter explained that BitMEX did not report some dark activities. There are also some operations on the darknet for more than 200 million dollars.
With the court’s decision and the payment of the funds, BitMEX can close the legal case as a company. The agreement does not include the co-founders and former directors that also took part in the case. Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed will remain being investigated and could get back to prison. All three have pleaded not guilty.
BitMEX got banned from sealing businesses in the United States of America or offering services to American citizens as it does not have the corresponding permits. According to the CFTC, the bitcoin derivatives platform illegally brought leveraged trading between November 2014 and October last year. The case received media coverage in October of the previous year due to the accusation.
BitMEX Set Up Some Changes in its Business with Bitcoin
After its CEO Arthur Hayes parted ways with the company, BitMEX began to apply measures to comply with international regulators. Some changes in their work with bitcoin include KYC protocols, user verification, hiring of personnel to ensure compliance with the rules, and new services to operators.
BitMEX stated that they take their responsibilities very seriously and will continue to actively contribute with regulators worldwide to make sure that they play a positive role in the future of this extraordinary asset class.
Hayes, the current CEO of BitMEX, turned himself into the authorities in April of this year. However, the executive got out on bail after paying $ 10 million. If he found guilty, he and his two former colleagues could spend up to 5 years in prison.
Hayes, along with other executives responsible for the exchange faced charges for disrupting the United States Bank Secrecy Law. According to the law, they did not apply the anti-money laundering procedures that companies need to keep operating within the North American jurisdiction.
Also, in March of this year, the other co-founder of BitMex, Ben Delo, surrendered to the North American authorities and received indictments in New York.
By: Jenson Nuñez
