According to a press release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, cryptocurrency and derivatives exchange BitMEX admitted on Wednesday (10th) to violating the Bank Secrecy Act, saying that BitMEX intentionally failed to establish, implement and maintain appropriate money laundering prevention (AML) plan.

Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said:

“As BitMEX’s founder and longtime employee admitted in federal court in 2022, the company, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency derivatives platforms from 2015 to 2020, failed to comply with federal law requirements when operating in the United States. Any meaningful money laundering prevention program.”

BitMEX has been facing serious legal issues in the United States since at least 2022. In late 2022, prosecutors asked the court to sentence the company's former business development chief Greg Dwyer to 12 months' probation for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. Earlier that year, BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes was also sentenced to six months of home detention after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.

Williams said in the press release: "BitMEX has made itself a vehicle 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 demonstrates that cryptocurrency companies must take advantage of the U.S. market if they wish to exploit it." U.S. law must be followed.”

The press release stated that BitMEX was established in 2014 and “has long provided services to U.S. traders and solicited business. It also conducts business through a U.S. office. Therefore, it needs to register with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and establish and maintain appropriate anti-money laundering procedures. plan".

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