The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission has charged BitMEX with the unregistered distribution of commodities exchange and in contravention of anti-money laundering laws.
Bitmex Founders Accused
The CFTC lodged a civil compliance suit against five companies and three people who illegally control the exchange and manage it in South New York, according to a statement issued on Thursday.
Three founders of Bitmex have been accused. Arthur Hayes, publicly referred to as the CEO of BitMEX, and Ben Delo and Samuel Reed are amongst the persons accused.
Alleged KYC/AML Violations
Reed, chief operating officer of BitMEX, was detained Thursday morning in Massachusetts in a release released by the Department of Justice. Hayes, Delo and Dwyer have been described as “remaining at large.”
Rumors of CFTC investigation of Bitmex have spread since July 2019. The BitMEX terms of service specifically forbid the usage of the trade of BitMEX by U.S. citizens, but the CTFC has alleged that Bitmex did not do enough to prohibit such users.
