According to Bloomberg, crypto exchange BitMEX has been fined $100 million for breaching U.S. anti-money laundering regulations.
U.S. District Judge John Koeltl imposed the penalty following BitMEX's guilty plea in July to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act. The law mandates measures like customer identity verification and anti-money laundering programs.
The charges stemmed from BitMEX’s failure to implement safeguards, allowing transactions linked to darknet markets and unregistered money services. According to the U.S. Treasury Department, the exchange conducted at least $209 million in such trades.
Crypto exchange BitMEX, one of the first platforms to offer cryptocurrency derivatives, was co-founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed.
The trio, along with executive Gregory Dwyer, faced criminal charges in 2020 for permitting unlawful trades. All pleaded guilty and received probation sentences in 2022. The court also sentenced BitMEX to two years of probation. BitMEX's lawyers tried to reduce the sentence, arguing that the years of legal battles had significantly affected the exchange's operations but were ultimately unsuccessful.