Major cryptocurrency cases probed by U.S. authorities

The allegations made by US authorities against Sam Bankman-Fried, the creator of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on Tuesday were some of the most well-known ones ever made against a participant in the industry. It was the most recent of many instances involving digital assets that American authorities and prosecutors are investigating.

A list of some of those civil and criminal cases, together with their verdicts, is provided below:

Bitfinex Hack 

A husband-and-wife duo was charged by the US Justice Department in February with conspiring to launder 119,754 bitcoin that had been stolen in 2016 when a hacker got into the digital currency exchange Bitfinex and started more than 2,000 unlawful transactions. According to court documents, the two are in discussions with prosecutors regarding a potential plea.

Bitmex

This year, BitMEX employees, including the company's founders, entered guilty pleas for wilfully failing to create, execute, and maintain anti-money laundering measures. In federal court in New York, the company's co-founders entered guilty pleas and each agreed to pay a $10 million fine.

Another employee of the company entered a guilty plea and agreed to pay a $150,000 fine.

The criminal charges were first filed by federal prosecutors in 2020.

The exchange consented to pay a civil fine in 2021 to resolve separate complaints from the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) division of the U.S. Treasury Department and the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

This Monday, a representative for BitMEX refused to comment on the accusations made against its former workers.

The company's chief executive officer stressed its strong compliance and anti-money laundering skills at the time the issue was resolved with the CFTC and FinCEN.