Reports just in show that BitMEX has been hit with a $100 million fine. On Wednesday, Manhattan federal judge John G. Koelt passed the latest verdict against the crypto exchange. This brings an end to the years-long saga over money laundering violations in the United States. In a Jan. 15 hearing in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge John Koeltl passed the sentence on BitMEX, nearly six months after the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to violating the US Bank Secrecy Act by operating without “any meaningful” anti-money laundering program. In July 2024, the crypto company referred to the allegations as “old news,” implying that no additional fines were expected. BitMEX responds to the court fines In a statement to its users after the judgment, BitMEX said, “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 The exchange’s attorneys maintained that earlier $110 million penalties and previous guilty pleas were adequate punishment for the offenses that took place between 2015 and 2020, but Koeltl disagreed. According to the crypto exchange, “This process has run on for years, during which the DOJ first asked for over USD 200 million of new money to settle a plea deal – once we refused this ridiculous offer, they then sought a penalty of approximately USD 420 million in the sentencing proceedings.” BitMEX adds, “Given that the Court has determined an amount substantially below these levels is a justification of our stance and we query whether U.S. taxpayer resources could have been better applied over this period.” How did BitMEX get here? Prosecutors alleged that BitMEX violated the BSA’s regulations by conducting business with US-based customers. This was despite the fact that the BSA mandates that financial institutions implement measures to detect and prevent money laundering. Apparently, between September 2015 and September 2020, the crypto exchange based in Seychelles willfully neglected to establish an adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) program. To that end, the crypto exchange pleaded guilty to a single count of violating the BSA in federal court in Manhattan. Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, the founders of BitMEX, remarked on social media that this was not new news and that the penalties had already been paid in 2022. Notably, the company’s three founders stated this because BitMEX reached agreements with US regulators years ago for similar activity over the same timeframe. The corporation agreed to pay $100 million in 2021, and the founders pleaded guilty to identical allegations before the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in 2022. BitMEX later announced that its KYC and AML programs have been subjected to an independent audit. The conclusion was that this charge has no effect on their business operations. The criteria that BitMEX has been working to survive in the US According to prosecutors, BitMEX made claims to cease conducting business in the United States in 2015. However, it implemented inadequate measures to prevent US residents from accessing the exchange while executives promoted it at conferences in the United States. The Department of Justice (DOJ) stated that new clients were occasionally only required to provide an email address to verify their identity. In addition, the DOJ claimed that BitMEX advertised itself as a platform that allowed retail consumers to trade crypto without real-name verification. It also claimed that it allowed them to register and trade without providing any identifying information or documentation until September 2020. Moreover, prosecutors reported that a BitMEX originator acquired a Hong Kong-based business that was used as a pass-through for US-dollar transactions. The exchange lied about its true purpose to an unnamed Hong Kong-based bank, and the fraud continued until 2020. This is a developing story, and more information will be added as it becomes available. Land a High-Paying Web3 Job in 90 Days: The Ultimate Roadmap
