Gregory Dwyer, a former head of business development at BitMEX, has pleaded guilty to a single charge of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, according to a report in WSJ.com.
Dwyer was one of BitMEX’s first employees during a period of rapid growth for the crypto trading platform. Registered in Seychelles, BitMEX was at one time a top crypto platform that enabled highly leveraged trading in crypto derivates but allegedly incorporated little or lax AML – KYC rules. The report states that Dwyer was involved in the “flouting” of these rules. Prosecutors claim that US customers were able to access the trading platform – even when BitMEX said they were blocked.
Dwyer originally pleaded not guilty but now has cut a deal with the prosecutor on the single charge which involves a $150,000 fine.
Two other co-founders, Arthur Hayes and Benjamin Delo, cut a deal where each paid a $10 million penalty.
BitMEX has since moved on from the allegations of insufficient controls and is now pursuing a path of compliance providing trading in both derivatives as well as spot trading in crypto.