Court Ordered BitMEX Founders To Pay Civil Penalty Worth $30 Million

New York Court ordered BitMEX founders to pay civil penalties worth $30 million for what the CFTC calls their involvement in serious violations of regulations and the Commodity Exchange Act so let’s read more today in our latest cryptocurrency news today.

The three co-founders of the BitMEX exchange have to pay a hefty fine for violating the regulations of the Commodity Exchange Act. The US District Court for the Southern District of the New York ordered a total of $30 million in civil monetary penalties from them including former CEO Arthur Hayes. The court ordered BitMEX founders to pay $10 million in consent payments due to violating aspects of the Commodity Exchange Act and the CFTC regulations from November 2014 to October 2020.

CFTC: Bitmex Co-Founders Ordered to Pay $10 Million Each

— db (@tier10k) May 5, 2022

The CFTC filed suit against the exchange and the three co-founders and in a rundown of the conclusion of the case today, the Commission stated that the defendants are accused of operating the BitMEX platform while conducting other aspects of the BitMEX busienss from the US and accepting orders and funds from the US customers to trade crypto like BTC, ETH, and LTC derivatives. The CFTC said these acts included the operation of a facility to trade or to process swaps without having the CFC approve to operate as a Designated Contract Market or a swap execution facility and said it also operated as a futures Commission Merchant without CFTC registration failing to implement a customer information program and KYC procedures or AML programs.

The CFTC commissioner Carline D Phamsaid that her commission is committed to buying wrongdoers with an unfair advantage and operating in violation of the law:

“By enforcing individual accountability for registration, market conduct, and anti-money laundering rules—fundamental aspects of the U.S. regulatory framework—the CFTC is ensuring that BitMEX’s management is held responsible after last year’s $100 million dollar settlement with corporate defendants.”

The previous reports show that Hayes and Delo pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in a separate case filed by the US DOJ. In the plea, they admitted to failing to establish and implement or maintain an Anti-Money Laundering program. The reports show that Haye’s mother was quite concerned with how the federal judge who presided over the DOJ case will sentence her son. The defense offered a letter from her asking for a lenient sentence and the lawyers requested a sentence of probation without the house arrest or community confinement. The recent reports also show that BitMEX agreed to pay $100 million in consent payments to both the FinCEN And CFTC in order to resolve the separate case where the regulators said the exchange operators HDR Global Trading Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited, and HDR Global Service Limited Illegalyy operated on the exchange.