Did BitMEX violate Bank Secrecy Act?

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration NEW YORK, Feb 24 (Reuters) - The founders of cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX pleaded guilty to violating the bank secrecy act by failing to establish an anti-money laundering program, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said on Thursday.

Why did BitMEX's Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo plead guilty?

The transformation of value in the digital age. The Thursday announcement stems from a late-2020 enforcement action. BitMEX founders Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo pleaded guilty to violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) in federal court on Thursday, the U.S. Department of Justice said Thursday.

Was BitMEX a vehicle for sanctions violations?

Unsurprisingly, BitMEX was also a vehicle for sanctions violations: HAYES and DELO both communicated directly with BitMEX customers who self-identified as being based in Iran, an OFAC-sanctioned jurisdiction, but did nothing to implement an AML or KYC program after doing so.

Does BitMEX have a DOJ case?

Taylor Bossung, a spokesperson for BitMEX, said, "We are aware of developments in the DOJ case but will not be commenting on an ongoing legal matter to which no BitMEX entity is a party. It's business as usual, all funds are safe, and there is no impact to the functionality of the platform including deposits and withdrawals."