BitMEX is the subject of a proposed class action lawsuit filed on Thursday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that accuses the cryptocurrency derivatives platform of engineering customer liquidations to capture traders’ Bitcoin collateral. The plaintiffs, BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar, allege combined losses of 622.66 bitcoin, with one claiming at least 305.81 bitcoin and the other more than 316.85 bitcoin.
The complaint asserts that an internal trading desk held privileged access to private customer information and continued to trade during server freezes that blocked ordinary users from managing or closing positions. It further contends that the platform permitted leverage of up to 100 times collateral and automatically liquidated positions while the remaining collateral was allegedly still worth twice the incurred losses. The residual bitcoin was then directed into the platform’s insurance fund, enabling the firm to benefit from the forced liquidations, according to the filing.
The plaintiffs seek the return of the bitcoin at issue along with compensatory and punitive damages. They propose to represent United States customers who acquired bitcoin swap products in transactions dating back to July 23, 2018. A similar class action brought in 2020 under the Commodity Exchange Act was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025.
A BitMEX representative stated that the exchange has encountered numerous comparable claims throughout its history and has resolved each one successfully. The firm described the current action as opportunistic and without foundation and said it intends to defend itself vigorously.
The lawsuit was filed on the same day BitMEX disclosed that its owner, HDR Global Trading Limited, would close the platform following a strategic review. Services are scheduled to end on September 23. New registrations have already ceased, and users will be barred from opening fresh positions beginning August 26. The announcement triggered a decline of roughly 90 percent in the platform’s BMEX utility token.