BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges in 2022 and received probation.
Officials with the US Department of Justice announced that cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by operating without “any meaningful” Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program.
In a July 10 notice, US Attorney Damian Williams said BitMEX “willfully fail[ed] to establish, implement, and maintain” an adequate AML program from 2015 to 2020. The charges seem to result from testimony during 2022 criminal proceedings against some of the exchange’s founders and employees.
“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,” said Williams. “Today’s guilty plea indicates again the need for cryptocurrency companies to comply with US law if they take advantage of the US market.”
