BitMEX has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit in the United States accusing the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange of engineering customer liquidations that allegedly allowed it to retain hundreds of Bitcoin before its planned September shutdown.

Court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that BKX Services Inc. and trader David Namdar filed the complaint on Thursday, alleging they lost a combined 622.66 BTC through forced liquidations on BitMEX. BKX claims losses of at least 305.81 BTC, while Namdar alleges losses exceeding 316.85 BTC.

Filed on the same day BitMEX confirmed it would wind down its exchange business, the lawsuit revives allegations that have circulated around the platform’s liquidation system for years. The plaintiffs argue that the exchange’s internal trading operations gave it an unfair advantage over customers during periods of market stress.

Plaintiffs seek return of Bitcoin

According to the complaint, BitMEX offered leveraged trading of up to 100 times customers’ collateral but allegedly liquidated positions before all available collateral had been exhausted. The filing claims customers often lost their positions while the remaining Bitcoin collateral was still worth substantially more than the trading losses.

The plaintiffs allege the excess Bitcoin was transferred into BitMEX’s insurance fund instead of being returned to users, allowing the exchange to benefit financially from forced liquidations. They further claim an internal trading desk had access to non-public customer information and was able to continue trading during server outages that prevented ordinary users from managing or closing their own positions.

“BitMEX deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations,” the plaintiffs alleged in the complaint.

Alongside the return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin, BKX Services and Namdar are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The proposed class action also seeks to represent U.S. customers who traded Bitcoin perpetual swap products in transactions dating back to July 23, 2018.

The filing also points to an earlier class action brought in 2020 by Brett Messieh and other traders, who made similar allegations under the Commodity Exchange Act. Court records cited in the complaint show that case was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025, allowing similar claims to be brought again.

Lawsuit coincides with exchange closure

The legal action arrives as BitMEX prepares to end more than a decade of exchange operations.

Earlier on Thursday, HDR Global Trading, the owner and operator of BitMEX, announced that it had decided to close the cryptocurrency derivatives platform following a strategic review of both the business and the digital asset industry. The company said exchange operations will end at 04:00 UTC on Sept. 23.

BitMEX has already stopped accepting new account registrations. Beginning Aug. 26, traders will no longer be able to open new positions and will only be permitted to reduce existing ones. During the weeks leading up to the closure, the exchange said it will progressively close outstanding positions, while any remaining open positions at the final deadline will be liquidated automatically.

The company also said contracts with limited liquidity may be settled early under its existing settlement procedures, with advance notice provided to affected users where necessary.

Although trading services will end in September, BitMEX said customers will continue to have access to their accounts for withdrawals and to review wallet balances and transaction history. Users who leave funds on the platform after the shutdown will be charged either the equivalent of $50 per month or 1% annually, whichever is higher, with fees deducted monthly from verified accounts.

BitMEX also warned customers to remain alert for phishing campaigns attempting to exploit news of the shutdown. It said no priority withdrawal service exists and cautioned users against anyone claiming they could accelerate withdrawals. The company added that increased withdrawal requests and Bitcoin network confirmation times could occasionally delay processing during the wind-down period.

Separately, BitMEX said its reserves remain higher than customer liabilities and pointed users to its proof of reserves and liabilities data as evidence that customer assets remain fully backed.

Exchange closes after months of restructuring

The closure follows several months of internal changes at the exchange.

Earlier this month, BitMEX replaced chief executive Stephan Lutz as part of a management restructuring that also saw chief financial officer Ina Steiner and chief growth officer Raphael Polansky leave the company. Former chief operating officer and global general counsel Peter Wilkinson was subsequently appointed chief executive.

The leadership overhaul came while reports indicated the exchange had been exploring a potential sale. BitMEX has not announced a transaction since those reports emerged.

The company has undergone several executive changes since 2020, when founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed stepped down after U.S. authorities accused the exchange of failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. BitMEX later pleaded guilty to those charges.

Alexander Höptner became chief executive in 2021 before Lutz took over during the cryptocurrency market downturn in 2022.

Founded in 2014, BitMEX became one of the earliest cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges and introduced the 100x leveraged perpetual swap, a product that later became widely adopted across the industry. In announcing its closure, the company said it had operated for more than 11 years without losing customer funds to hacks and thanked users for supporting the platform throughout its history.

The exchange’s shutdown announcement was followed by a sharp decline in its BMEX utility token, which fell by roughly 90% after the closure plans became public.

Strategy, BlackRock, Coinbase and six other companies have formed the Bitcoin Security Consortium to fund work on Bitcoin’s long-term security. 

The founding members pledged a combined $15 million over three years for developers, researchers and organizations working on the network.

The other members are Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets and Galaxy. Brink Executive Director Mike Schmidt will coordinate the group’s daily work as a volunteer. Each company will choose where to direct its own funding rather than pay into one shared pool.

Consortium targets Bitcoin’s long-term security

The consortium named post-quantum cryptography as its first area of focus. This field develops methods designed to resist attacks from classical and quantum computers. Bitcoin currently relies on elliptic curve cryptography to prove ownership and authorize transactions.

Large-scale quantum computers cannot break Bitcoin’s cryptography today. However, a powerful enough machine running Shor’s algorithm could derive a private key from an exposed public key. An attacker could then try to move funds from a vulnerable address. Researchers still disagree on when such a machine could exist.

“As long-term holders, we have every incentive to see Bitcoin remain secure for generations,” said Strategy CEO Phong Le.

BlackRock global head of digital assets Robert Mitchnick also said the member firms will make more funding available for Bitcoin Core developers and long-term security work.

Members will not control Bitcoin development

The group said it will not develop or direct Bitcoin’s protocol, endorse specific changes or speak for Bitcoin developers. The open-source community will continue to debate, test and approve any changes through Bitcoin’s existing process.

That limit matters because the consortium includes major companies connected to Bitcoin. BlackRock and Fidelity offer institutional Bitcoin products, while Coinbase and Anchorage Digital provide trading and custody services. Strategy holds Bitcoin as its main treasury asset. Blockstream and Block develop Bitcoin infrastructure and payment products.

Members will select developers, researchers and nonprofit groups independently. The consortium also plans to publish material about Bitcoin security for investors, the public and the media. It said those updates will track technical developments rather than establish policy for the network.

Quantum readiness work expands

The consortium arrived two days after Galaxy launched its separate Bitcoin Quantum Readiness Initiative. Galaxy committed up to $5 million in grants for post-quantum tools, wallet migration systems, signature research and security audits. It also formed an advisory council and research program.

Galaxy said no cryptographically relevant quantum computer exists today. Still, it warned that Bitcoin upgrades may require years of design, testing and adoption because the network uses decentralized governance. Galaxy is also a founding member of the consortium, but its separate grant program has its own review process.

As crypto.news reported, Coinbase’s independent advisory board urged Bitcoin developers to begin a quantum migration plan now. The board did not support a set policy for old or vulnerable coins. It called for technical preparation before the threat becomes practical.

Crypto companies have also started testing new tools. BitGo and Silence Laboratories completed a simulation using a post-quantum signing system in an institutional custody workflow. Developers are also discussing BIP-360, which would add a new Bitcoin output type designed to reduce future quantum exposure.

Estimates differ on exposed Bitcoin

Project Eleven’s Bitcoin Risq List estimated that 6,982,462 BTC sat in addresses with exposed public keys as of June 15. The figure includes coins affected by older address types and address reuse. The tracker does not claim that current hardware can steal those coins.

Other studies use narrower definitions. As previously reported, Glassnode estimated in May that 1.92 million BTC faced structural exposure because their output types reveal public keys by design. It placed another 4.12 million BTC in an operational category tied to address reuse and wallet practices.

Project Eleven’s 2026 quantum threat report placed its baseline estimate for “Q-Day,” when a quantum computer could break current public-key cryptography, in 2033. Its early scenario placed the date in 2030, while its later case extended to 2042. These estimates remain uncertain and depend on advances in hardware, error correction and algorithms.

The U.S. government has also accelerated its planning. A June executive order directed federal agencies to move high-value systems to post-quantum key establishment by the end of 2030 and post-quantum digital signatures by the end of 2031.

The consortium said it will publish further material and continue funding security work. It did not name grant recipients, list individual company contribution amounts or propose a deadline for a Bitcoin protocol upgrade.

Fintech firm Ripple made two moves on Thursday aimed at growing its dollar-backed stablecoin, RLUSD, in a month when transfer volume across the token has dropped by 25%.

The first is Ripple Mint, a platform that lets institutional customers create, redeem, bridge and track RLUSD through a web dashboard or direct integration.

Until now, minting RLUSD — the process of issuing new tokens when a customer deposits dollars — generally meant arranging it directly with Ripple and waiting on a manual issuance process. The APIs let a firm trigger minting and redemption automatically from its own systems and track each transaction from dollar transfer to onchain settlement.

Ripple has also been extending RLUSD beyond the XRP Ledger and Ethereum onto the XRPL EVM sidechain, Base, Optimism, Ink and Unichain, widening the number of networks where the token can circulate.

Separately, Ripple announced late Thursday a strategic investment in Notabene. This compliance network places RLUSD inside its business-payments platform, putting the token in front of institutions positioned to send and receive it.

So, while Mint is designed to make RLUSD simple to create and manage, Notabene is built to get it moving through institutional payment rails.

Coinbase is rolling out new tools aimed at what it calls the “agentic economy,” extending its platform so businesses can receive stablecoin payments from autonomous AI agents. In a Thursday update posted on X, the exchange said Coinbase Business customers will be able to accept USDC payments made by AI agents using the x402 payment standard.

The announcement also points to a broader push beyond payments, with Coinbase describing AI-enabled trading functionality for monitoring and condition-based execution, alongside a software development kit (SDK) intended to help developers build agent-driven applications on top of Coinbase’s infrastructure.

Key takeaways

• Coinbase Business will support accepting USDC payments from AI agents via the x402 standard, originally introduced in May 2025 for HTTP-based stablecoin payments.
• Coinbase says it is adding AI trading tools that can pull live market data, monitor orders, and trigger actions based on predefined conditions.
• The company frames the rollout as infrastructure for an “agentic economy,” where AI systems handle payments and financial tasks on users’ behalf.
• Coinbase highlights a mismatch between today’s finance interfaces—built around human-driven actions—and the growing use of autonomous agents in web traffic and developer activity.

USDC payments for AI agents through x402

Coinbase’s latest move focuses on payments. According to the company’s X post, Coinbase Business customers will be able to accept USDC payments originating from AI agents through x402—an interface designed to let stablecoin transfers work over HTTP.

Coinbase previously introduced x402 in May 2025 as a way to make stablecoin payments more compatible with how agents and applications communicate on the internet, including via APIs. The Thursday announcement ties that standard directly to a new business-facing capability: merchants and enterprises can receive stablecoin payments initiated by AI agents, rather than requiring the usual human-in-the-loop flow.

For businesses, the practical significance is that payment execution can become easier to automate. Instead of routing transactions through manual steps, agent software can integrate directly with payment endpoints in a way that aligns with modern web-based communication patterns.

AI trading tools and condition-based execution

Beyond payments, Coinbase also described new AI trading tools. The company says these tools are designed to help users oversee trading activity and respond to market changes using predefined rules.

In its announcement, Coinbase said customers will be able to monitor orders, access live market data, and execute actions based on conditions that users set ahead of time. The details provided in the post position these features as an operational layer for agent-style workflows—where monitoring and decision logic can be packaged into automated routines rather than handled exclusively through manual monitoring.

While the post doesn’t specify which trading venues, asset types, or order types are included, it does clearly emphasize the “agentic” theme: enabling systems that can observe, interpret, and act according to rules.

A developer kit for building agent-powered finance

Coinbase also said it is releasing a software development kit to support the development of agent-powered applications. The SDK is presented as part of the same strategy that includes x402-based payment support and AI trading tooling, suggesting Coinbase wants to provide developers with building blocks that can be used to connect autonomous agents to financial actions.

That matters because many AI-agent use cases depend on reliable integrations—both for receiving funds and for taking actions in response to changing conditions. By bundling payments, market connectivity, and an SDK under one umbrella, Coinbase is attempting to reduce the amount of custom integration work developers typically face when trying to link agent software with crypto rails and trading interfaces.

Why Coinbase is leaning into autonomous agent infrastructure

Coinbase’s messaging places the rollout in the context of how it believes AI agent adoption is accelerating. The company said agent-generated traffic surpassed human traffic on its Base documentation pages for the first time last month, pointing to a shift in how developers and systems are interacting with blockchain-related documentation.

Coinbase also used the argument that the internet’s financial infrastructure was built around a single assumption: “a human clicking the button.” In the company’s view, that design choice has left businesses, developers, and users without tools tailored to AI agents that can initiate payments and execute tasks autonomously.

As stablecoins and blockchain-based payments are increasingly marketed as infrastructure for AI agents, the direction of Coinbase’s rollout fits a broader sector trend. The use case is being targeted by multiple exchanges and payment-focused companies, according to earlier coverage from Cointelegraph about the “autonomous agent economy,” as well as reporting on payment providers exploring AI-agent purchasing and payment flows.

In other words, Coinbase’s change is not just about adding a new payment feature—it’s an attempt to align crypto payment and trading interfaces with how autonomous systems are increasingly expected to operate: with fewer manual steps and more direct API-driven execution.

What to watch next

For users and builders, the key unknowns are how widely x402 support will roll out across Coinbase Business integrations, what the trading AI tools can cover in practice, and how developers will use the SDK to connect agent workflows to payments and execution. As agent adoption increases, the most important test will be whether these interfaces can reliably handle real-world automation at scale without forcing human intervention.

BitMEX has been hit with a new US class action lawsuit accusing the crypto derivatives exchange of fraudulently arranging liquidations to keep traders’ Bitcoin collateral. The complaint, filed in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on Thursday, targets BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar as plaintiffs and is directed at BitMEX operator HDR Global Trading, according to the court filing.

The lawsuit comes at a sensitive moment for the platform: BitMEX has announced it will shut down after a strategic review by its owner, HDR Global Trading, with services scheduled to stop on Sept. 23. BitMEX also plans to prevent users from opening new positions starting Aug. 26.

Key takeaways

• The plaintiffs allege they collectively lost 622.66 BTC due to forced liquidations tied to BitMEX’s automated liquidation mechanics.
• BKX Services claims losses of at least 305.81 BTC, while David Namdar alleges losses exceeding 316.85 BTC, per the lawsuit.
• The filing asserts an internal trading operation could allegedly continue trading during server freezes that supposedly blocked ordinary users from managing positions.
• Customers are seeking return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin, along with compensatory and punitive damages.
• The case follows a prior class action in 2020 that was dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025, and it is being filed as BitMEX prepares to close.

Allegations centered on liquidation design and collateral seizure

According to the complaint, BitMEX permitted customers to use leverage of up to 100 times their collateral and then automatically liquidated positions at prices the plaintiffs argue were set while collateral remained allegedly sufficient to cover the losses. The plaintiffs claim that collateral was still worth twice the losses they say were ultimately incurred during liquidations.

In the plaintiffs’ account, remaining BTC after liquidation was directed into BitMEX’s insurance fund. They argue that this structure allowed the exchange to profit from forced liquidations rather than limit losses strictly to what was necessary under liquidation rules.

Central to the fraud allegations is the plaintiffs’ contention that BitMEX “deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations.” The complaint further asserts that an internal desk had access to private customer information and could keep trading while ordinary users allegedly could not access or close positions during server freezes.

Cointelegraph contacted BitMEX for comment but did not receive a response before publication.

Who is suing, and what relief is being sought

The proposed class action seeks the return of allegedly withheld Bitcoin and requests compensatory and punitive damages. The plaintiffs aim to represent US customers who purchased BTC swap products in transactions dating back to July 23, 2018, according to the filing.

The complaint identifies the alleged losses by plaintiff: BKX Services Inc. is said to have lost at least 305.81 BTC, while David Namdar alleges losses exceeding 316.85 BTC. The lawsuit states that the combined total losses alleged across the named plaintiffs amount to 622.66 BTC.

Notably, the new case explicitly frames the dispute around how collateral was handled after liquidations and how access to trading tools may have differed between internal participants and regular customers during alleged service disruptions.

Background: earlier BitMEX class action and a renewed push

While the new filing revives longstanding scrutiny of BitMEX’s internal trading operations and liquidation engine, it is not the first time traders have attempted to pursue legal claims. The complaint references a class action filed in 2020 by Brett Messieh and other traders alleging similar conduct.

That earlier case, which included claims under the Commodity Exchange Act, was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025. The renewed lawsuit therefore raises the question of how plaintiffs plan to refine or reframe their allegations after that dismissal and what evidence they believe supports the renewed claims.

For BitMEX users, the shift matters because earlier proceedings ended without a final resolution on the merits. A refiled suit suggests plaintiffs believe they can proceed more effectively—whether by adjusting legal theories, assembling additional factual support, or both.

Filed as BitMEX moves toward shutdown

The lawsuit was filed the same day BitMEX announced it would close after 11 years in operation. In its shutdown plan, BitMEX said it would stop providing services on Sept. 23, following a strategic review by HDR Global Trading.

BitMEX has already stopped accepting new registrations. The exchange also plans to prevent users from opening new positions starting on Aug. 26, according to the announcement. The timing is likely to be closely watched by affected traders and counterparties, as the platform’s winding down could affect how quickly claims can be assessed and how remaining customer-related matters are handled operationally.

BitMEX’s closure announcement was also followed by sharp market moves in the exchange’s BMEX utility token, with Cointelegraph reporting a roughly 90% plunge after the shutdown news. While token volatility does not determine the legal merits of the allegations, it underscores the broader uncertainty and reputational pressure that frequently accompany shutdowns and litigation.

Earlier coverage from Cointelegraph noted that BitMEX had already begun delisting a large number of trading pairs and derivatives in July amid its exchange shutdown process.

What to watch next

As the case heads through initial US court steps, the key unknowns will be how the allegations are supported procedurally and factually, and whether BitMEX responds with challenges to the plaintiffs’ theory of fraud and the causal link between alleged liquidation behavior and the claimed Bitcoin losses. With BitMEX preparing to exit the market by Sept. 23, plaintiffs and users will also watch how the shutdown affects evidence access, user documentation, and the practical timeline for any potential recovery.

Korbit currently holds less than 1% of South Korea’s domestic crypto market, far behind giants Upbit and Bithumb. When asked directly about its strategy to compete, Mirae Asset stressed that the goal is not to overtake any other company or exchange, but to promote sustainable growth of the digital assets industry in South Korea.

“We intend to combine Mirae Asset’s extensive global investment expertise with Korbit’s digital asset capabilities to promote the sound and sustainable growth of the digital asset industry in Korea and globally.”

In other words, Mirae Asset isn’t trying to outdo Upbit or Bithumb, but to offer a one-stop shop that brings together institutional investment capabilities, research, education, and digital asset infrastructure under one roof.

The group also told CoinDesk it would strictly comply with AML, KYC, and fraud-detection standards across all areas, a signal that Digital X is being positioned for institutional clients as much as for retail traders.

Mirae Asset’s affiliate Mirae Asset Consulting recently increased its stake in Korbit to 97.15%, completing the acquisition after receiving regulatory approval from South Korea’s Fair Trade Commission.

“The acquisition was carried out through lawful procedures following a thorough review of the relevant laws and regulatory framework. Mirae Asset Consulting was selected as the acquiring entity after comprehensive consideration of each affiliate’s business purpose and role, as well as its potential synergies with the digital asset business,” the firm said.