A class-action lawsuit has been filed against crypto exchange BitMEX in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, according to a report by Cointelegraph. The plaintiffs accuse the platform of operating a fraudulent liquidation system that allegedly allowed it to seize customers’ Bitcoin beyond their actual losses and use those funds to replenish the exchange’s insurance fund.
The plaintiffs are BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar, who claim combined losses of approximately 623 BTC. According to the lawsuit, BKX lost at least 306 BTC, while Namdar lost more than 317 BTC.
The lawsuit was filed just one day after BitMEX announced its planned shutdown.
Details of the Lawsuit
According to the complaint, BitMEX offered leveraged trading of up to 100x and then forcibly liquidated customers’ positions even though, the plaintiffs claim, the value of their collateral still significantly exceeded their losses. The remaining Bitcoin was allegedly transferred to the platform’s insurance fund.
The plaintiffs also allege that BitMEX’s internal trading team had access to non-public customer information and was able to continue trading even during system outages, when regular users could not log in or close their positions.
In addition to the return of the disputed Bitcoin, the lawsuit seeks compensatory and punitive damages. The plaintiffs intend to represent U.S. customers who traded perpetual Bitcoin contracts starting on July 23, 2018.
BitMEX’s Position
A spokesperson for the exchange rejected the allegations, telling Cointelegraph that the company has faced similar claims before and has successfully defended its position in court. BitMEX described the new lawsuit as baseless and said it intends to seek its dismissal.
The filing also references a 2020 class-action lawsuit in which traders made similar allegations under the U.S. Commodity Exchange Act. The case was dismissed without being considered on the merits in June 2025 after the plaintiffs voluntarily withdrew their claims.