BitMEX Agrees To Pay Up To $100 Million To Settle CFTC, FinCEN Charges

BitMEX has agreed to pay $100 million to settle U.S. charges that the trading platform unlawfully accepted customer funds to trade cryptocurrencies and did not have proper anti-money-laundering programs in place.

For more than six years, BitMEX failed to implement and maintain a compliant anti-money-laundering program and a customer identification program, and it failed to report certain suspicious activity, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) said in a statement.

Five companies charged with operating BitMEX, one of the oldest and largest convertible virtual currency derivatives exchanges, agreed to pay the penalty to settle the charges, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) said separately.

“Comprehensive user verification, robust compliance, and anti-money laundering capabilities are not only hallmarks of our business – they are drivers of our long-term success,” Alexander Höptner, chief executive officer of BitMEX, said in a statement.

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