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Costs, licensing, consumer protection Privacy, self-custody, censorship resistance
C D Crypto Derivatives Exchanges (Futures/Perp)

BitMEX

BitMEX

HDR Global Trading Limited

Status
Private company
Legal HQ
Seychelles
Founded
2014
Corporate site
bitmex.com

Main investors / shareholders

  • Arthur Hayes · Other
  • Benjamin Delo · Other
  • Samuel Reed · Other

Private company founded by three co-founders. In 2020-2025 faced DOJ/CFTC legal actions for BSA violations, with total fines $100M+$100M and presidential pardons in 2025. Never hacked or lost customer funds.
3.3/5 1.2/5
Taker fee 0.075%

Data verified on unchanged since the sources

Worth it if you already hold funds or open positions here: the only useful move is to close them and withdraw before the 23 September 2026 shutdown.

Avoid it if you are looking for somewhere to trade derivatives: the platform is closing, is not available in Italy and carries a FinCEN fine and indicted founders.

Visit official website ↗

⚠️ SHUTDOWN ANNOUNCED: on 23 July 2026 HDR Global Trading Limited announced that BitMEX will cease operations on 23 September 2026 at 04:00 UTC. From 26 August 2026 no new positions can be opened (existing ones can only be reduced), and between 26 August and 23 September open positions will be progressively force-closed. Do not open new accounts: anyone holding funds should close positions and withdraw. A custodial derivatives exchange that invented perpetual swaps in 2016, with BTC-margined contracts and maker rebates (down to −0.025%). It is weighed down by a FinCEN fine, indicted founders and a particularly risky leverage of up to 250x.

73
Transparency: Medium
73/100 · see methodology
73
Data exposure: Medium
73/100 · lower is better for sovereignty · methodology

Data & conditions

Maker / Taker fee -0.01% / 0.075%
Markets Derivatives
Max leverage 100×
Supported assets 50+
Trading pairs 59+
24h volume $516M
Fiat on-ramp Yes
Deposit methods Crypto deposit, Fiat onramp via third-party (Onramper, MoonPay, etc.)
Geo restrictions USA, Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Seychelles, Bermuda, Japan, Ontario (Canada), Quebec (Canada)
Staking / Earn BMEX token staking only (up to 7.5% yield); no general crypto staking/earn
Fund custody Custodial (platform holds funds)
KYC Full
Supported countries APAC, LATAM, MENA · 50+ countries
Regulator FSA Seychelles
OAM Italy registration No
Segment B2C
MiCA / License status VASP Seychelles Registrazione limitata

Strengths

  • Inventore perpetual swap (2016); maker rebate −0,025%; BTC-margined.
  • No notable sovereignty advantage documented.

Weaknesses

  • Platform SHUTTING DOWN: no new positions from 26/8/2026, full closure on 23/9/2026.
  • Fine FinCEN; fondatori indicted; 250x leverage risky.
  • Custodial: the platform holds your funds and can freeze or lose them.
  • Full KYC required: verified identity, zero pseudonymity.
  • Subject to regulation (Registrazione limitata): reporting to authorities and freezes on order.
  • Geographic restrictions (USA, Cuba, Iran, Syria, North Korea, Crimea, Sevastopol, Donetsk People's Republic, Luhansk People's Republic, Kherson Oblast, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Seychelles, Bermuda, Japan, Ontario (Canada), Quebec (Canada)).

Verdict

C D ★ 3.3/5 ★ 1.2/5

The C reflects a heavy past: a FinCEN fine, indicted founders and a string of historical incidents erode trust, while the Seychelles registration offers little protection and the service is not even available in Italy. The 0.075% taker fees are uncompetitive and leverage pushed to 250x is among the most dangerous on the market for the average user.

BitMEX keeps a pioneer's soul — it invented perpetuals in 2016 and is BTC-margined with maker rebates down to −0.025% — but stays custodial and full-KYC, far from the trustless ideal. The BTC-native culture earns a point or two; mandatory identification and custody take them back.

Privacy & anonymity 30% 0.8
Fund control 20% 0.0
Censorship resistance 20% 1.5
Costs 10% 4.3

Promp's editorial rating based on real fees and net annual cost. Promp reviews third-party products independently.

"Sovereignty" rating: score computed on privacy/anonymity (30%), fund control (20%), censorship resistance (20%), trustless/auditability (20%) and costs (10%). Same data, different weights.

Reputation

What happened to people who used BitMEX, and what users say. External signals: they do not feed the promp.it rating.

Incidents & regulatory actions

Past incidents, resolved

Documented and closed events. They stay on file: an operator’s past is data, not a verdict.

  1. Fine Severe $100M ✓ resolved

    US criminal sentence: HDR Global Trading, the company operating BitMEX, fined $100 million and placed on two years' probation for violating the Bank Secrecy Act

    The company pleaded guilty on 10 July 2024 and was sentenced on 15 January 2025 by the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York: a $100 million fine and two years' probation for willfully failing to establish and maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) programme. From the court filings: BitMEX served US customers and knew it was required to register with the CFTC, yet opening an account required only an email address; senior executives knew US-resident customers kept accessing the platform through at least 2018 and that the policies nominally preventing this were easily overridden. Prosecutors also state the company lied to a bank about the nature of a subsidiary in order to move millions of dollars through the US financial system. The three founders (Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed) and executive Gregory Dwyer had already pleaded guilty and were sentenced in 2022. The fine has been paid and the criminal case is closed.

    ↗ source
  2. Regulatory action Severe $30M ✓ resolved

    BitMEX's three co-founders ordered to pay $30 million in total by the CFTC, after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act

    On 5 May 2022 a federal court ordered Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed to pay $10 million each for operating an unregistered crypto derivatives platform, accepting orders and funds from US customers without CFTC registration, acting as an unregistered futures commission merchant and failing to implement adequate KYC and anti-money-laundering programmes. The conduct covered runs from November 2014 to 1 October 2020. On the criminal side the three had already been sentenced in 2022 for Bank Secrecy Act violations. Penalties paid, proceedings closed.

    ↗ source
  3. Regulatory action Severe $100M ✓ resolved

    $100 million civil penalty from the CFTC and FinCEN against the five companies operating BitMEX: unregistered platform and no anti-money-laundering programme from 2014 to 2020

    On 10 August 2021 a federal court ordered HDR Global Trading Limited, 100x Holding Limited, ABS Global Trading Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited and HDR Global Services (Bermuda) Limited to pay $100 million, with up to $50 million offset by the parallel payment to FinCEN. The findings, covering November 2014 to 1 October 2020: operating a crypto derivatives platform without approval as a Designated Contract Market or Swap Execution Facility, acting as an unregistered futures commission merchant, failing to implement a Customer Identification Program and KYC procedures, failing to implement an adequate anti-money-laundering programme, and unlawfully accepting orders and funds from US customers on bitcoin, ether and litecoin derivatives. Penalty paid.

    ↗ source
  4. Data breach Moderate ✓ resolved

    Customer email addresses exposed to one another in a mass mailing: the addresses ended up in the visible recipients field instead of blind copy

    On 1 November 2019 BitMEX sent a general user update leaving recipients' email addresses in the visible field rather than in blind copy. The company confirmed it the same day in a blog post and a statement by deputy COO Vivien Khoo: the fault was in the mailing software, further sends were stopped as soon as the issue was spotted, and beyond the email addresses no personal data or account information was disclosed. BitMEX then forced a password reset for all users holding a balance without two-factor authentication. Estimates of the scale differ: contemporary reporting put it at roughly 22,000 recipients, while a third-party account claimed to have collected more than 400,000 addresses — a claim never verified nor confirmed by the company, which stays a claim here and is not treated as a figure.

    ↗ source

verified on

FAQ

What are BitMEX's fees?

On BitMEX, spot fees are maker -0.01% / taker 0.07%. They drop with monthly volume and VIP tier.

Is BitMEX regulated in Europe?

Regulatory status of BitMEX: Registrazione limitata. Licence: VASP Seychelles.

Does BitMEX publish Proof of Reserves?

Proof of Reserves publication is not documented for BitMEX. No third-party reserve audit is documented. Reserve transparency is a critical factor after the FTX collapse.

Can I send transfers to third-party IBANs from BitMEX?

No, BitMEX is an exchange and does not allow transfers to third-party IBANs: fiat withdrawals return to a bank account in your own name.

Does BitMEX support derivatives and futures?

BitMEX offers derivatives trading, with up to 100x leverage.

Sources

Show 7 more sources

Update history

✓ Terms unchanged since Jul 27, 2026

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Visit official website ↗

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