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BitMEX faces class action over alleged liquidation and seized Bitcoin
The proposed class action, filed in New York on July 23, seeks the return of 622.66 BTC and alleges BitMEX transferred remaining collateral to an Insurance Fund during its regulator-approved wind-down ahead of a Sept. 23 closure.
Customers are seeking the return of 622.66 Bitcoin in a proposed class action accusing BitMEX of engineering liquidations and retaining traders’ collateral, according to a complaint filed July 23 in the Southern District of New York. The suit says BitMEX’s liquidation engine shut positions when unrealized losses reached about half of posted collateral, leaving collateral valued at roughly twice the claimed losses, which the plaintiffs allege BitMEX seized and moved to an Insurance Fund rather than returning.
The complaint alleges that an internal trading desk could see customer positions, hidden orders, and liquidation points. It further claims the desk used anonymized accounts, continued trading during server freezes that locked ordinary customers out, and traded on reference exchanges to induce price moves that triggered liquidations.
The plaintiffs name BitMEX operator HDR Global Trading Limited and four affiliated companies, plus co-founders Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed, Benjamin Delo, and Gregory Dwyer. Allegations have not been proven in court, and BitMEX CEO Peter Wilkinson rejected the case, calling it “spurious and opportunistic” and saying the exchange would defend itself.
The lawsuit comes as BitMEX begins a regulator-approved wind-down ahead of its September closure. The plan limits HDR to winding down operations, closing positions, and returning client-held assets before exchange services cease on Sept. 23, and the regulator-approved plan says HDR voluntarily withdrew a pending virtual-asset licence application on July 23. The filing also references an earlier class action brought in 2020 that was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in June 2025.
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