BitMEX, an encrypted derivatives trading platform, announced on Tuesday that it had settled civil charges with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN) and would pay $100m to settle allegations that it had allowed illegal trading and violated anti-money-laundering rules for years, one of the first major cases in an emerging campaign against digital tokens in the US.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission said in a statement that BitMEX violated the rules by allowing US residents to trade cryptocurrency derivatives at least between November 2014 and October 2020. Supporters of the trading platform also reached a settlement with the US Financial Crime Enforcement Network (FinCEN), which accused them of failing to comply with the Bank Secrets Act (Bank Secrecy Act) and failing to report suspicious transactions to US authorities.
BitMex used to be the world's largest exchange of cryptographic derivatives, but its prospects have dimmed in a US survey. Last October, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against the exchange. Since then, CFTC has also investigated other platforms, suspected of allowing Americans to buy and sell derivatives without registering with the agency.
Under the settlement agreement, BitMEX will pay $50 million to CFTC and up to $50 million to FinCEN. The company also confirmed that it would ban any American from accessing its trading platform.
BitMEX said in a statement that it had improved its compliance program in recent years and was pleased to conclude these investigations.