Ben Delo, the co-founder of BitMEX, must face accusations of a manipulation scheme pompously called “God Access”. It is worth adding that the co-founder of BitMEX is facing a collective lawsuit brought by exchange users. Although Delo tried to avoid American jurisdiction, the court rejected this request and the trial will begin soon.
BitMEX co-founder will answer to US court for 'God Access'
U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter said in his decision that BitMEX co-founder Benjamin Delo was the “central figure” in the alleged “God Access” conspiracy to use customer information to manipulate prices on the exchange. It is worth recalling here that the “God Access” case has been going on since 2020, when a group of BitMEX exchange users filed a class action lawsuit against BitMEX and its co-founders, i.e. Ben Delo, Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed. This group claimed that they had access to their customers' accounts.
According to the lawsuit, the trio allegedly used customer information to determine which moves would result in the largest number of user accounts being terminated in the market. This was, of course, intended to bring above-average profits to the stock exchange. Ben Delo filed a motion to dismiss the trial on the grounds that he is a British citizen. In his motion, he argued that U.S. courts had no jurisdiction over his case. New York District Judge Andrew Carter rejected that proposal in a decision signed on April 3 and published on April 8.
Will the BitMEX co-founder go to jail?
It is worth noting here that Ben Delo was sentenced to 30 months of probation in June 2022. This was due to his guilty plea in February of the same year to failing to comply with BitMEX's anti-money laundering program and violating the Bank Secrecy Act. Hayes and Reed also pleaded guilty to the crime. Hayes was sentenced to two years of supervised probation with six months of home quarantine, while Reed was sentenced to 18 months of supervised probation.
Due to the rejection of Ben Delo's application, the case of BitMEX and “God Access” is back not only in the court docket, but also in the cryptocurrency media. What will be the final result of the collective process? The trial is scheduled to start soon.
