- BitMEX has hired a compliance and anti-money laundering specialist as it overhauls its operations
- The CFTC investigation has forced compliance on the exchange
- Malcom Wright is a compliance and AML specialist with 30 years experience in the field
BitMEX has moved quickly to give users a clear indication of its future direction by hiring a compliance specialist. Malcolm Wright will join 100x Group, the group behind HDR Global Trading Limited, who owns and operates the BitMEX platform, as Chief Compliance Officer. BitMEX called Wright’s appointment a “noteworthy milestone” as it seemingly seeks to disassociate itself with its past and fall in line with other cryptocurrency exchanges.
BitMEX Steps Up to Compliance Challenge
Wright is a compliance veteran, with 30 years’ experience in compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) behind him. He chairs the Advisory Council and AML Working Group at Global Digital Finance and sits on multiple international committees related to the practice.
BitMEX added in a blog post announcing the appointment that the presence of Wright would help the exchange “move towards completion of our User Verification Programme and further enhance our compliance function.”
Wright himself left users in no doubt what to expect from BitMEX moving forward:
For me, compliance is non-negotiable, and a prerequisite for exchanges to be embraced by regulators and institutional investors alike. My vision is for 100x Group, through the BitMEX platform, to play a lead role in shaping how this industry collaborates with regulators to ensure everyone can safely avail of digital markets.
CFTC Probe Forced Exchange’s Hand
Compliance has always been something that BitMEX has avoided, which made it popular with traders who wanted to keep prying eyes off their trading activities. However, 100x Group was left with little choice when the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced it was launching a probe into the company’s operations last year.
News of the verification program broke mid-August, six weeks before the three BitMEX co-founders were indicted on a range of charges in relation to illegal operation of the exchange. This has left BitMEX facing a difficult future, with a ‘comply or die’ order more or less forced on it by the CFTC, although whether traders will still want to use BitMEX for the platform alone remains to be seen.
