BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar filed a class action against BitMEX and HDR Global Trading Limited in the Southern District of New York on July 23, 2026. The complaint accuses BitMEX of rigging liquidations to seize customer Bitcoin, naming Arthur Hayes among the defendants.
Key Takeaways
- BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar accuse BitMEX of engineering liquidations to seize customer Bitcoin, per SDNY court records.
- The plaintiffs claim combined losses of 622.66 BTC, with BKX alleging at least 305.81 BTC and Namdar alleging more than 316.85 BTC.
- The complaint says BitMEX let customers trade with up to 100x leverage, then liquidated positions and routed leftover collateral into its insurance fund.
- Plaintiffs want the Bitcoin returned plus damages and seek to represent US customers who bought BTC swap products dating back to 2018, per PacerMonitor’s court filing.
- The lawsuit landed the same day BitMEX announced a shutdown, after which its BMEX token fell roughly 90%, per HDR Global Trading’s own announcement.
What Happened?
BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar brought the complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, per PacerMonitor’s docket. The complaint, according to Law360, describes BitMEX as designing its system to create unfavorable trading conditions before seizing customer bitcoin through liquidations.
The filing names HDR Global Trading Limited, 100x Holdings Limited, ABS Global Trading Limited, HDR Global Services (Bermuda) Limited and Shine Effort Inc Limited as corporate defendants, alongside BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes and executives Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed and Gregory Dwyer.
“BitMEX deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations,” the plaintiffs alleged in the complaint. The complaint claims an internal trading desk had access to private customer information and could continue trading during server freezes that prevented ordinary users from accessing or closing their positions.
BitMEX Sued: Traders Say Exchange Rigged Their Liquidations
— CoinLaw (@coinlaw_io) July 24, 2026
BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar allege in a New York federal complaint that @BitMEX engineered liquidations to seize customer Bitcoin, filed the same day the exchange announced it will close in September. pic.twitter.com/iY9NtV0fQC
How the Alleged Scheme Worked?
The plaintiffs put their combined losses at 622.66 BTC, with BKX Services claiming at least 305.81 BTC and Namdar claiming more than 316.85 BTC. The complaint says BitMEX let customers trade with up to 100x leverage, then auto liquidated positions while the underlying collateral was allegedly still worth roughly twice the losses.
The complaint says any leftover Bitcoin from a liquidation went into BitMEX’s insurance fund, letting the exchange profit from forced liquidations. The plaintiffs are seeking the return of the withheld Bitcoin plus compensatory and punitive damages, and want to represent US customers who bought BTC swap products dating back to July 23, 2018.
The complaint also points to a 2020 class action by Brett Messieh and other traders alleging similar conduct under the Commodity Exchange Act, a case that was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025. That dismissal left the core liquidation allegation legally untested.
A Shutdown Announced the Same Day
The lawsuit was filed the same day BitMEX announced it will stop providing services on Sept. 23, ending 11 years of operation after a strategic review by owner HDR Global Trading. BitMEX has already stopped accepting new registrations and plans to block new positions starting Aug. 26.
The shutdown announcement was followed by a roughly 90% plunge in BitMEX’s BMEX utility token. The timing puts a long-running liquidation dispute back on BitMEX’s docket as the exchange winds down.
Implications for BitMEX Customers
This complaint uses fraud and contract claims instead of the Commodity Exchange Act theory a court dismissed procedurally in 2025. The proposed class covers any US customer who bought BTC swap products since 2018, a window spanning most of BitMEX’s operating history.
A closing exchange raises a practical question beyond the ruling itself: whether it can still pay out any judgment.
CoinLaw’s Takeaway
This lawsuit revives, rather than introduces, the core allegation against BitMEX: that its liquidation engine let the exchange profit when traders lost. The 2020 Messieh case tested a similar theory and was dismissed without a ruling on the merits. With 622.66 BTC in alleged combined losses and a proposed class reaching back to 2018, the exposure claimed here is larger than a single trader dispute.
BitMEX is fighting this suit in its final months of operation, a timing question the complaint alone cannot answer: whether a closing exchange can still pay out a judgment.
