BitMEX Fined $100M for Violating U.S. AML Laws to Increase Revenue

The cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, also known as HDR Global Trading, has been fined $100 million by the U.S. Department of Justice for deliberately disregarding anti-money laundering (AML) laws to boost its revenue.

U.S. District Judge John Koeltl in Manhattan handed down the sentence, which includes two years of probation, following BitMEX’s guilty plea in July.

BitMEX and its founders, who entered related guilty pleas in 2022 and were also sentenced to probation, had previously paid approximately $110 million in connection with related criminal and civil cases, according to court documents. Lawyers representing BitMEX did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the matter.

Prosecutors alleged that between 2015 and 2020, BitMEX and its founders—Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed—intentionally violated the Bank Secrecy Act. They were accused of failing to implement anti-money laundering and “know your customer” (KYC) programs, critical requirements for regulatory compliance.

In 2021, BitMEX agreed to pay up to $100 million to resolve civil charges brought by two U.S. regulators. These charges stated that the exchange improperly screened its customers and allowed them to trade cryptocurrencies without proper registration.

Prosecutors initially sought a $417 million fine in the criminal case, asserting that BitMEX “has not demonstrated acceptance of responsibility in any real sense.” They further argued that the company’s guilty plea occurred only after realizing it “had no choice” following the pleas of its founders.

BitMEX argued that no additional fines were necessary, pointing to its earlier financial penalties and claiming that it had since become a “compliant business” that had corrected its prior mistakes. The company also addressed the challenges faced during its period of non-compliance, stating:“Like many other cryptocurrency exchanges, [BitMEX] was too slow to adjust to changes in the industry during a period of regulatory uncertainty.”

This case highlights the growing scrutiny of cryptocurrency exchanges and the increasing enforcement of compliance with financial regulations in the evolving digital asset industry. 

By fLEXI tEAM