Lawsuit claims BitMEX used server freezes and internal trading to seize 622 Bitcoin ahead of its September closure
BitMEX clients are in search of the return of 622.66 Bitcoin in a proposed class motion that accuses the trade of engineering liquidations and retaining merchants’ collateral. The complaint, filed July 23 within the Southern District of New York, arrived as BitMEX started a regulator-approved wind-down ahead of its September closure.
BKX Services Inc. alleges it misplaced no less than 305.809 BTC via BitMEX liquidations in 2018, whereas David Namdar claims 316.856 BTC in losses from 2019 to 2020. Together they search the cash themselves, relatively than solely their greenback worth, beneath claims for replevin and fraud.
The swimsuit names BitMEX operator HDR Global Trading Limited and 4 affiliated corporations: ABS Global Trading Limited, 100x Holdings Limited, Shine Effort Inc Limited and HDR Global Services (Bermuda) Limited. Co-founders Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed and Benjamin Delo are additionally defendants, together with Gregory Dwyer.
The plaintiffs allege BitMEX’s liquidation engine closed positions when unrealized losses reached about half of the collateral merchants had posted. According to the submitting, that left collateral value roughly twice the losses, however BitMEX seized the rest and transferred it to its Insurance Fund as an alternative of returning it.
The grievance additional alleges that an undisclosed internal trading desk may see buyer positions, hidden orders and liquidation factors. It claims the desk used anonymized accounts and may proceed trading throughout server freezes that locked abnormal clients out, whereas additionally trading on reference exchanges to induce worth strikes that triggered liquidations. The allegations haven’t been confirmed in courtroom.
BitMEX CEO Peter Wilkinson rejected the case in feedback to Benzinga, calling it “spurious and opportunistic” and saying the corporate would defend itself vigorously.
The submitting revisits conduct lined by an earlier BitMEX class motion introduced in 2020 beneath the Commodity Exchange Act. That case was voluntarily dismissed with out prejudice in June 2025, with no ruling on the deserves. The new motion as an alternative pleads replevin and fraud and argues that the sooner case paused the relevant limitations interval.
The Financial Services Authority of Seychelles stated HDR voluntarily withdrew its pending virtual-asset licence utility on July 23. The regulator-approved plan limits HDR to winding down operations, closing positions and returning client-held belongings earlier than trade providers stop on Sept. 23.
BitMEX’s closure notice says customers will retain entry after that date to view balances and withdraw funds, and the corporate says its belongings exceed its liabilities. The wind-down plan covers client-held belongings however is silent on Bitcoin disputed via historic liquidations, so the shutdown provides urgency to the possession query with out establishing that jurisdiction, the case or restoration has been impaired.
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