One of the three co-founders of cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX, Samuel Reed, has pled guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), by failing to establish, implement and maintain an anti-money laundering program at the firm.
Reed also agreed to pay a criminal fine of $10 million representing pecuniary gain derived from the offense under the terms of his plea agreement.
US Attorney Damian Williams said:
Samuel Reed has now joined his co-founders, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, in admitting that they caused BitMEX to commit criminal violations of the anti-money laundering laws that govern financial institutions operating in the United States. As today’s guilty plea reflects, this Office will not permit cryptocurrency exchanges to operate as a shadow financial system that enables criminal actors to move their illicit proceeds without detection, and will vigorously investigate and prosecute the operators of such exchanges who deliberately flout US law.”
