A US federal judge has ordered BitMEX co-founders to pay $30 million for operating a cryptocurrency derivatives platform illegally and breaching money-laundering rules.
The court in the Southern District of New York has compelled the firm’s creators, Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, to pay $10 million penalties each.
The trio earlier pleaded guilty to a related Department of Justice case for violating the Bank Secrecy Act while operating cryptocurrency spot and derivatives trading.
CFTC sanctioned the company in 2020 for illegally receiving orders and funds from US customers to trade cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ether, and Litecoin. The firm agreed to pay the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network $100 million.
The agency accuses the co-founders of not implementing and enforcing controls to detect and prevent BitMEX illegal operations.
The company’s representative, Taylor Bossung, received the news with deviance, saying the company is ready to launch a spot exchange in the coming weeks.
Source: Coindesk
