BitMEX sued for $40.7 million hours after announcing September shutdown

BitMEX, the exchange that essentially invented leveraged crypto trading for the masses, announced on July 23 that it would shut down for good on September 23, 2026. Within hours, a class-action lawsuit landed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The lawsuit: 622 Bitcoin and a long list of grievances

The complaint was filed by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar against HDR Global Trading Limited, BitMEX’s parent company. Also named: co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed.

The core allegation is straightforward. Plaintiffs claim BitMEX’s liquidation engine was designed not just to manage risk, but to systematically extract value from users. The suit puts a number on it: 622.66 BTC, worth roughly $40.7 million.

Here’s how the plaintiffs say it worked. When traders got liquidated, their remaining collateral didn’t just cover the loss. According to the complaint, leftover assets were funneled into BitMEX’s insurance fund, effectively padding the exchange’s balance sheet with money that should have gone back to users.