BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange that invented the perpetual swap, faces a proposed class action alleging bitcoin theft and insider trading filed on the same day it said it would shut down in three months.
The lawsuit, filed by former tokenization project BKX Services and David Namdar in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, shows that BKX claims it has lost at least 305.81 BTC through forced liquidations, while Namdar claims losses of more than 316.85 BTC – a total of 622.66 BTC ($40,000).
The July 23 filing came as BitMEX said it would close on September 23, ending an 11-year period. Similar claims were made in a 2020 class action lawsuit, which was settled in June 2025 without a decision on the liquidation charges.
The new complaint alleges that BitMEX and co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed designed a system to keep customers safe and transfer the remaining bitcoin to the platform’s insurance fund. It also says an internal trading desk had access to private customer information and could continue to trade during server freezes that prevented other users from closing their positions.
