USA v. Hayes

The DOJ charged the founders of BitMEX for failing to implement anti-money laundering (AML) and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols at their offshore cryptocurrency derivatives exchange. The defendant’s pled guilty to the charges. Hayes received six months of home confinement and two years probation.

All four men avoided jail time in what defendant Hayes termed a "first-of-its-kind" prosecution. This case, which navigated the complex relations between the Commodity Exchange Act and the Bank Secrecy Act in the emerging cryptocurrency asset class, highlighted the lack of precedent available to Hayes and the other founders in guiding the operations of the BitMEX platform.

1:20-cr-00500