According to an official statement from the U.S. Department of Justice, cryptocurrency exchange and derivatives trading platform BitMEX admitted on Wednesday to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, saying that BitMEX willfully failed to establish, implement and maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program. The law carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a fine, and the case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: "As BitMEX founder and long-time employee admitted in federal court in 2022, the company was one of the world's leading cryptocurrency derivatives platforms from 2015 to 2020, but operated in the United States without any meaningful anti-money laundering program required by federal law. As a result, BitMEX became a tool for large-scale money laundering and sanctions evasion schemes, posing a serious threat to the integrity of the financial system. Today's guilty plea once again shows that if cryptocurrency companies take advantage of the U.S. market, they need to comply with U.S. law."
