BitMEX faces proposed class-action suit for theft, insider trading as crypto exchange shuts down
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- BKX Services and David Namdar filed a proposed class-action suit on July 23 against BitMEX in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging losses of 622.66 BTC ($40.7 million) — 305.81 BTC from BKX and 316.85 BTC from Namdar — through forced liquidations.
- BitMEX and co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed, along with parent company HDR Global Trading, are accused of designing a system to retain customer collateral and transfer remaining bitcoin to the platform's insurance fund.
- The complaint alleges an internal trading desk accessed private customer information and could continue trading during server freezes that prevented other users from closing their positions, while BitMEX permitted up to 100x leverage.
- Plaintiffs claim BitMEX liquidated their positions while collateral was still worth roughly twice the losses and withheld the balance; the suit seeks to represent U.S. customers who bought BitMEX bitcoin swap products since July 23, 2018, demanding return of bitcoin plus compensatory and punitive damages.
- The filing coincides with BitMEX's announced Sept. 23 closure ending an 11-year run, and follows the June 2025 dismissal of a similar 2020 class-action case that ended without a ruling on the liquidation allegations.
- BitMEX's shutdown follows a strategic review by HDR and a management shake-up that ousted its CEO, CFO, and head of growth last month, with general counsel Peter Wilkinson stepping in as CEO.
Why it matters: The lawsuit targets the inventor of the perpetual swap during its final weeks of operation, with plaintiffs claiming 622.66 BTC was siphoned through forced liquidations at 100x leverage while an internal desk allegedly exploited server freezes — accusations that resurfaced after a parallel 2020 case closed in June 2025 without reaching the merits.
