Accelerating the BitMEX User Verification Programme

BitMEX

We are introducing changes to accelerate the rollout of our User Verification Programme for individual and BitMEX Corporate customers. Users must now be fully verified by 5 November 2020 at 00:00 UTC to continue trading on the platform.

After this time, unverified users will not be able to open new positions and, from 4 December 2020 at 00:00 UTC, will not be able to withdraw funds from their BitMEX account without completing verification. 

Timeline

5 November 2020 at 00:00 UTC

Verification Required for Opening or Increasing Positions
  • All BitMEX users will need to complete verification in order to open a new position or to increase an existing position. 
  • Existing open positions can be maintained or reduced by unverified users, although pending orders that would increase a position will be cancelled. 

Verification Required for Affiliate Payouts
  • Affiliate payouts for unverified accounts will be set to zero. 
  • Affiliate payouts will resume following a successful verification, but will not accrue while the account is unverified.

4 December 2020 at 00:00 UTC

Verification Required for Withdrawals
  • All BitMEX users will need to complete verification in order to withdraw funds from their account.
  • Funds will be recoverable from user accounts and withdrawals will be processed normally post verification.

After 4 December 2020

Winding Down Open Positions from Unverified Accounts
  • If there are remaining open positions on unverified accounts, we will review these on 4 December 2020 and communicate directly to users holding these to facilitate an orderly closing of these positions.

Background

The User Verification Programme, introduced on 28 August 2020, requires individual users on BitMEX to go through a four step process, similar to ID checks on many other cryptocurrency exchanges. Individual users are prompted to upload a photo ID and proof of address, take a selfie, as well as answer a few multiple choice questions about source of funds and trading experience. It takes about five minutes to complete from start to finish.

BitMEX Corporate customers will continue to receive our team’s support to go through the verification process, albeit on the accelerated timeline.

Recent events have underscored the requirement for market operators to implement robust and compliant KYC programmes. Since announcing our User Verification Programme, a significant amount of our users representing over 50 percent of our volume have successfully completed the onboarding process, giving us the confidence to bring forward our cut-off date.

When we announced the User Verification Programme we also signalled our intention to launch a trading tournament for users who have completed verification. Given the accelerated timeline outlined, we have decided to delay the tournament until a later date.

This has been a period of accelerated change for 100x Group and the BitMEX platform, and we are encouraged by and thank our clients and the wider industry for the support we have received in the last few weeks. 

As always, if you have any questions, please contact Support.