BitMEX Exchange
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BitMEX (Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange), operated by HDR Global Trading Limited, is a Seychelles-registered cryptocurrency derivatives exchange that permanently shut down on September 23, 2026, ending an 11-year run. The exchange accumulated more than $200 million in total regulatory penalties across CFTC, FinCEN, and DOJ proceedings for willful failures to maintain adequate anti-money laundering and know-your-customer programs; its three co-founders and a senior employee each pleaded guilty to Bank Secrecy Act violations, though all four subsequently received presidential pardons in March 2025. Closure followed a two-year failed sale process, and the disposition of the exchange's approximately $270 million insurance fund remained publicly unresolved at the time of shutdown.
Connected Entities
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Timeline(16 events)
1 January 2014
BitMEX founded by Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed; incorporated in the Seychelles via HDR Global Trading Limited.
CoinDesk1 January 2016
BitMEX introduces the Bitcoin perpetual swap contract, a derivatives instrument with no expiration date and up to 100x leverage, which becomes widely adopted across the industry.
Finance Magnates1 October 2020
CFTC files civil charges against BitMEX and its owners for illegally operating an unregistered derivatives platform and AML violations. SDNY unseals criminal indictments against Hayes, Delo, Reed, and Dwyer for Bank Secrecy Act violations.
CFTC10 August 2021
CFTC and FinCEN announce combined $100 million civil penalty against BitMEX (HDR Global Trading). $80 million paid immediately; $20 million suspended pending compliance remediation.
Money Laundering Watch24 February 2022
Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo plead guilty in SDNY to violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
CoinDesk5 May 2022
U.S. District Court for SDNY enters consent orders against Hayes, Delo, and Reed individually, imposing $10 million civil penalties each ($30 million total) and permanent injunctions from future Commodity Exchange Act violations.
CFTC1 August 2022
Gregory Dwyer, BitMEX's first employee and head of business development, pleads guilty to one count of violating the Bank Secrecy Act.
Willkie Compliance Concourse16 November 2022
Gregory Dwyer sentenced; ordered to pay $150,000 criminal fine.
Willkie Compliance Concourse10 July 2024
HDR Global Trading Limited (BitMEX) enters a corporate guilty plea in SDNY for willfully failing to maintain an adequate AML program from 2015 to 2020.
DOJ SDNY1 November 2024
BitMEX engages investment bank Broadhaven Capital Partners to advise on a potential sale of the exchange, publicly reported in early 2025.
CoinDesk15 January 2025
BitMEX (HDR Global Trading) sentenced on corporate guilty plea: ordered to pay $100 million criminal fine and serve two years of probation. DOJ had initially sought more than $200 million.
DOJ SDNY28 March 2025
President Donald Trump grants full pardons to Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, Gregory Dwyer, and HDR Global Trading Limited, extinguishing the criminal convictions from their guilty pleas. Civil regulatory penalties are unaffected.
Bloomberg23 July 2026
HDR Global Trading Limited announces BitMEX will permanently cease operations on September 23, 2026 at 04:00 UTC. New account registrations immediately halted. Sale process confirmed to have ended without a transaction.
BitMEX official announcement26 August 2026
BitMEX blocks all new position openings at 04:00 UTC per the wind-down schedule; users limited to reducing existing positions only.
BitMEX official announcement23 September 2026
BitMEX permanently shuts down at 04:00 UTC. All remaining positions automatically closed. Users who did not withdraw begin accruing fees of 1% per year (charged monthly) or $50 per month, whichever is greater, on remaining balances. The disposition of the approximately $270 million insurance fund remained undisclosed.
BitMEX official announcement; ProtosDecision Log
- hash: Dyo3TrP8ZgG649yaeQmmoqM4Bs5gDh4yonPo8JMjPNNt
This investigation is cryptographically anchored to the Solana blockchain (1 event). 23 of 26 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 9/16/2026, 11:19:46 PM
last updated: 9/17/2026, 2:37:47 AM
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