BitMEX Gets a 622 BTC Send-Off Lawsuit Hours Before Announcing It's Done 🪦

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX was hit with a proposed class action lawsuit Thursday accusing it of engineering customer liquidations to capture traders' Bitcoin collateral. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar, alleges the plaintiffs lost a combined 622.66 BTC through forced liquidations on the platform, with BKX claiming losses of at least 305.81 BTC and Namdar alleging losses exceeding 316.85 BTC. BitMEX did not respond to a Cointelegraph request for comment before publication.

According to the filing, BitMEX permitted customers to use leverage of up to 100 times their collateral, then automatically liquidated positions while the collateral was allegedly still worth twice the losses incurred. The remaining $BTC was placed into the platform's insurance fund, allowing BitMEX to profit from the forced liquidations, the plaintiffs claim. "BitMEX deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations," the complaint alleged.

The lawsuit also alleges that an internal trading desk had access to private customer information and could continue trading during server freezes that prevented ordinary users from accessing or closing their positions. The plaintiffs are seeking the return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin as well as compensatory and punitive damages, and aim to represent US customers who purchased BTC swap products in transactions dating back to July 23, 2018.

The complaint pointed to a prior class action filed in 2020 by Brett Messieh and other traders alleging similar conduct. That case, which brought claims under the Commodity Exchange Act, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025. Cointelegraph reached out to BitMEX for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

The lawsuit was filed the same day BitMEX announced it would wind down operations after 11 years. The exchange said it will stop providing services on Sept. 23 following a strategic review by owner HDR Global Trading, has ceased accepting new registrations, and plans to prevent users from opening new positions starting Aug. 26. The announcement was followed by a roughly 90% plunge in BitMEX's BMEX utility token.