The Ripple Effects of the BitMEX Takedown

The charges heard round the world (at least in crypto). Yesterday, the Department of Justice and CFTC filed joint charges against BitMEX and its owners and operators for running a trading platform without CFTC approval and for failing to implement know-your-customer (KYC)/ anti-money laundering (AML) procedures or a customer information program.

At the crux of the indictment was the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) which essentially requires institutions to document users who conduct more than $10,000 in transactions on a given day. Additionally, it requires institutions to report any suspicious activity happening on their platform to regulators.

Before speculating on what this means for DeFi and crypto writ large it should be noted what is and is not unique about the BitMEX situation. BitMex markets itself as the world’s largest cryptocurrency derivatives platform with billions of dollars in volume. Within the space it is known for offering up