Country for PR: Hong Kong
Contributor: PR Newswire Asia (Hong Kong)
Wednesday, August 11 2021 - 07:57
AsiaNet
BitMEX confirms it has reached settlements with CFTC and FinCEN
MAHE, Seychelles, Aug. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire-Asianet/ --

BitMEX has today confirmed that it has reached a resolution with both the 
United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Financial Crimes 
Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in relation to investigations by both agencies.

BitMEX agreed to pay as much as US$100 million to resolve the charges. 

Alexander Höptner, Chief Executive Officer of BitMEX, said: "Today marks an 
important day in our company's history, and we are very glad to put this behind 
us. As crypto matures and enters a new era, we too have evolved into the 
largest crypto derivatives platform with a fully verified user base. 
Comprehensive user verification, robust compliance, and anti-money laundering 
capabilities are not only hallmarks of our business - they are drivers of our 
long-term success."

He added: "We take our responsibilities extremely seriously, and will continue 
to actively engage with regulators around the world to ensure that we play a 
positive role in helping to shape the future of this extraordinary asset 
class." 

BitMEX is currently embarking on an ambitious business transformation under its 
'Beyond 
Derivatives'(https://blog.bitmex.com/beyond-derivatives-bitmexs-road-ahead/) 
strategy, adding five new global business segments. These are Spot, Brokerage, 
Custody, Information Products, and Academy. Key hires and appointments have 
been made for each.

In 2020 and 2021, BitMEX made significant progress in areas of user 
verification, compliance, and market integrity. Milestones include:

Late 2019 - Initiated KYC Build-out

We started to put in place the technology needed to scale up comprehensive 
know-your-customer capabilities.

August 2020 - Launched User Verification Process

We 
announced(https://blog.bitmex.com/announcing-the-bitmex-user-verification-progra
mme/) that all customers, new and existing, would need to complete identity 
verification or else close their accounts and withdraw their funds.

October 2020 - Hired Chief Compliance Officer Malcolm Wright

We 
announced(https://blog.bitmex.com/100x-group-hires-malcolm-wright-as-chief-compl
iance-officer/) the hiring of Malcolm Wright as our Chief Compliance Officer. 
Malcolm also serves as Chair of the Advisory Council and AML Working Group at 
Global Digital Finance(https://www.gdf.io/), a leading association that engages 
with industry, policymakers, and regulators.

November 2020 - Added Partners to Boost Anti-Financial Crime, Trade 
Surveillance, and AML Capabilities

We announced the addition of Refinitiv World-Check 
One(https://blog.bitmex.com/adding-refinitiv-world-check-one-to-our-compliance-t
oolbox/) to our compliance toolbox to boost our anti-financial crime 
capabilities and bolstered our trade surveillance and anti-money laundering 
capabilities with our partnership with Eventus 
Systems(https://blog.bitmex.com/bitmex-bolsters-anti-money-laundering-and-trade-
surveillance-monitoring/).

December 2020 - Hired CEO Alex Höptner

We 
announced(https://blog.bitmex.com/100x-group-appoints-alexander-hoptner-as-chief
-executive-officer/) the appointment of Alex Höptner as our CEO. Alex 
previously served as CEO of Börse Stuttgart, which became a pioneer for 
regulated digital asset trading under his leadership.

January 2021 - Announced Completion of the BitMEX User Verification Programme

We 
confirmed(https://blog.bitmex.com/bitmex-starts-2021-with-a-fully-verified-activ
e-user-base-user-verification-programme-complete/) that our user verification 
programme was successfully implemented as of December 2020. This made BitMEX 
the largest crypto derivatives exchange with a fully verified active user base. 

We also deepened our 
integration(https://blog.bitmex.com/increasing-screening-of-illicit-activity-wit
h-chainalysis/) with blockchain intelligence provider Chainalysis to better 
identify, investigate, and stop illicit transactions. 

February 2021 - Appointed Wai Kin Chim as Independent Non-Executive Board 
Director

We 
appointed(https://blog.bitmex.com/100x-appoints-wai-kin-chim-as-independent-non-
executive-board-director/) Wai Kin (WK) Chim as an independent non-executive 
board director. WK brings deep experience in corporate governance, risk 
management, and compliance from his 30-year career in major financial 
institutions including Standard Chartered Bank, Deutsche Bank, and Bank of 
China. 

March 2021 - Strengthened our Customer Due Diligence and Screening for 
Sanctioned Entities

We 
partnered(https://blog.bitmex.com/enhancing-the-bitmex-compliance-programme-with
-kharon/) with Kharon, a research and data analytics company, to strengthen our 
customer due diligence and enhance screening for OFAC-sanctioned entities.

April 2021 - Announced Plans for Spot, Brokerage, Custody, Information 
Products, and Academy

We announced our 'Beyond 
Derivatives'(https://blog.bitmex.com/beyond-derivatives-bitmexs-road-ahead/) 
strategy, adding five new global business segments: Spot, Brokerage, Custody, 
Information Products, and Academy. 

July 2021 - Reflected on Positive Impact of User Verification Programme

Six months after the completion of our user verification programme, we 
published(https://blog.bitmex.com/what-weve-learned-six-months-after-becoming-th
e-largest-fully-verified-derivatives-exchange/) a piece on what we've learned 
and how it has positively impacted our platform. 

To learn more about BitMEX, our vision, growing team, and the road ahead, 
please follow us on Twitter(https://twitter.com/BitMEX), 
Telegram(https://t.me/BitMEX_Announcements), and the BitMEX 
Blog(https://blog.bitmex.com/). 

For further inquiries, please contact press@bitmex.com

Source: BitMEX