The Seychelle-based crypto exchange, BitMEX, is refuting accusations that it violated the federal Bank Secrecy Act.
US authorities filed charges against five BitMEX operating entities and its company owners, Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed on Thursday.
The CFTC alleges that BitMEX operated unregistered in the US and failed to put in place anti-money laundering measures. The civil suit also asserts that the trading platform illegally offered up to 100x leveraged futures transactions.
The popular Bitcoin trading platform, which has now seen over $11 billion in Bitcoin deposits and collected more than $1 billion in trading fees, swiftly responded to the CFTC charges with a statement.
“We strongly disagree with the US government’s heavy-handed decision to bring these charges, and intend to defend the allegations vigorously. From our early days as a start-up, we have always sought to comply with applicable U.S. laws, as those laws were understood at the time and based on available guidance.”
In its press release, BitMEX also assured users that, despite these charges, the platform’s operations would run uninterrupted and user funds would remain safe and accessible.
The Commission argues that, though BitMEX is not headquartered in the US, much of the trading platform’s volume is generated by US transactions and, as such, are subject to CFTC regulation.