Karimi & Associates Law Firm presents according to Wall Street Journal:
BitMEX, which offers trading in bitcoin and other cryptocurrency derivatives, had been sued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) last year. In its complaint filed last October, the CFTC alleged that BitMex and its three cofounders operated the exchange from the U.S. for at least six years while unlawfully accepting orders and funds from U.S. investors to trade cryptocurrencies without regulator clearance.
Meanwhile, FinCEN alleged that BitMex failed to maintain necessary anti-money laundering protocols and at least $209 million in transactions with “known darknet markets or unregistered money services businesses providing mixing services” had been conducted by them. Further, according to FinCEN, BitMex failed to verify traders’ identities which exposed the trades to risks such as dealing with money launderers, terrorist financiers, and ransomware attackers.
Although BitMex neither admitted nor denied the allegations, in order to settle federal charges, has agreed to pay $100 million and to block U.S. residents from using its trading platform. It has been mentioned by BitMex CEO that the company is “very glad to put this behind” it and pledged to “actively engage with regulators around the world… to shape the future of this extraordinary asset class.”