Cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX dismissed its violation of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) in the United States as “old news” from 2020. The company announced plans to request an expedited sentencing hearing, indicating that no additional charges would be pursued.
On July 10, US Attorney Damian Williams announced BitMEX’s admission to offer crypto trading services without any meaningful Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program.
In response to the BSA charge, BitMEX claimed that its founders, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, had already pleaded guilty to the violation and paid off the fines in 2022.
At the time, BitMEX founders had admitted to “willfully failing to establish, implement and maintain an Anti-Money Laundering program” at their crypto derivatives exchange. The litigation resulted in the implementation of verification systems to prevent US citizens from using BitMEX.
Charges against BitMEX
Both Hayes and Delo had agreed to pay $10 million in criminal fines each for BitMEX’s BSA violations. As a result, the exchange anticipates no further fines from the US Department of Justice (DOJ).
“We have accepted the BSA charge, will seek an expedited sentencing hearing, and argue that no further fine should be imposed, given the substantial amounts already paid by our founders under the BSA charges brought against them, and under our no admission/no denial settlements with the CFTC and FinCEN in 2021.”
BitMEX followed up by stating that its Know Your Customer and AML programs have been independently audited. “Needless to say, this charge has no impact on our business operations,” it concluded.
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Paying dues for AML violation
Delo was sentenced to 30 months probation for the BSA violation on June 16, while Hayes was sentenced to two years probation and six months of home detention on May 21.
However, prosecutors had argued Delo should serve a prison sentence comparable to Hayes. Hayes had voluntarily surrendered to US authorities in Hawaii six months after federal prosecutors first levied charges on April 7, to which his lawyers stated:
“Mr. Hayes voluntarily appeared in court and looks forward to fighting these unwarranted charges.”
In the US, pleading guilty to supporting money laundering is a punishable offense, often carrying a maximum penalty of five years of prison time.
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