BitMEX, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, has been fined $100 million by a U.S. court for violating anti-money laundering regulations, the U.S. Department of Justice announced on Wednesday.
The fine follows BitMEX’s guilty plea in July 2023, when the company admitted to deliberately ignoring U.S. anti-money laundering laws between 2015 and 2020. U.S. District Judge John Koeltl, based in Manhattan, sentenced the company to two years of probation. The fine is part of a broader effort to hold the exchange accountable for its failure to implement the required “Know Your Customer” (KYC) programs, turning the platform into a vehicle for money laundering.
In addition to the fine, BitMEX and its founders—Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed—have already paid around $110 million in criminal and civil penalties. The founders, who pleaded guilty in 2022, are also serving probation.
BitMEX had previously agreed to a $100 million settlement with U.S. regulators over civil charges that it violated customer screening rules and allowed unregistered trading of cryptocurrencies. Prosecutors had pushed for a $417 million fine but accepted the $100 million penalty after BitMEX’s guilty plea, noting that the company did not take responsibility for its actions until faced with legal pressure.
The exchange maintains that it has taken corrective measures, including becoming fully compliant with anti-money laundering laws, and blamed its earlier violations on a slow response to regulatory changes within the cryptocurrency industry.
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