BitMEX, a major cryptocurrency exchange, has been fined $100 million and sentenced to two years of unsupervised probation after pleading guilty to violating US banking laws. The judgment, issued on January 15 by Judge John Koeltl in the Southern District of New York, comes six months after BitMEX admitted to operating without a proper Anti-Money Laundering (AML) program under the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA).

Federal prosecutors accused BitMEX of bypassing BSA requirements by neglecting to implement Know Your Customer (KYC) standards, only requiring users to submit email addresses. While BitMEX labeled the charges as "old news" in a statement, the company acknowledged disappointment over the additional financial penalty. However, the fine was significantly lower than the $417 million initially pursued by the Department of Justice.

This latest ruling concludes a series of criminal and civil cases against the exchange and its co-founders. BitMEX executives, including Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, were previously sentenced to probation in 2022 and fined $30 million in penalties. These penalties were part of a civil case led by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The company had already agreed to pay $100 million in 2021 to settle charges with both the CFTC and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). Hayes, who stepped down as CEO in 2020, surrendered to US authorities in 2021 over allegations of banking law violations.

The sentencing marks the closure of a lengthy legal battle that began in 2015, signaling the end of regulatory scrutiny for BitMEX and its leadership.