On August 10, 2021, the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of New York entered a consent order ("Consent
Order") for a permanent injunction and $100 million fine
against five companies running "BitMEX" in connection
with charges brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The Consent Order settled charges for operating a cryptocurrency
derivatives trading platform that failed to register as a swap
execution facility ("SEF"), designated contract market
("DCM"), or futures commission merchant
("FCM"), and for failure to comply with the Bank Secrecy
Act, including a failure to implement a customer identification
program ("CIP") and know-your-customer ("KYC")
procedures, among others.1 Although the Consent Order
names specific individuals connected with the alleged misconduct
such as the BitMEX co-founders, the Consent Order applies only to
the legal entities identified in the Order and the individuals
remain under investigation.
