Gregory Dwyer, a high-ranking BitMEX executive, pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act. He "willfully caused BitMEX to fail to establish and maintain an AML program, including a program for verifying the identity of BitMEX’s customers."
Dwyer faces five years in prison and has agreed to pay $150,000 for pecuniary. Founders of BitMEX, Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, have also pleaded guilty.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated:
"With this plea, this Office has now obtained criminal convictions against all three founders, as well as a high-ranking employee at BitMEX, for willful violations of anti-money laundering laws. Today’s plea reflects that employees with management authority at cryptocurrency exchanges, no less than the founders of such exchanges, cannot willfully disregard their obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act."
Authorities are hoping that this case will send a message to crypto companies and make sure they do not do anything risky or go against the law.
This case has put pressure on crypto companies, which means they have to be very vigilant about not going against the laws, even though it might prove difficult because many countries still do not have proper regulations for the sector.