Crypto exchange founded by Reform donor Ben Delo sued for 20 million pounds

Images

×

BitMEX cofounder Ben Delo donated £36m to Reform, saying he wanted to see a ‘level playing field’. Photograph: Anne Schwarz Photography theguardian.com

The Seychelles-based company BitMEX closed in September 2026. Photograph: dennizn/Alamy theguardian.com

‹ ›

A cryptocurrency exchange founded by Ben Delo, who donated £36m to Reform UK, is being sued for £20m by a British software engineer who says he lost that sum in bitcoin trading derivatives the platform sold without regulatory approval. The claim, filed at the high court, alleges BitMEX offered crypto derivative products to UK investors without being regulated or approved by the Financial Conduct Authority.

Lewis Barber says he lost bitcoin worth £20m between 2018 and 2022 through derivatives that amplified gains and losses with the changing value of cryptocurrency. His lawyers argue that under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, contracts made without the required authorisation are void and consumers are entitled to restitution of what they lost. Barber may be one of thousands of non-professional UK investors sold derivative products in breach of FCA rules and consumer protection law, they say. The claim is directed at HDR Global Trading Limited, owner and operator of the exchange, which was based in the Seychelles and closed voluntarily on 23 September after what it described as a strategic review of the business. A spokesperson said no claim has yet been served on the company.

The statement of claim records that BitMEX "conducted promotional campaigns on a worldwide basis and did not exclude the United Kingdom from their reach," including at least one advertisement in the Times on 3 January 2019. In March 2020 the FCA warned that the exchange may have been conducting trading in regulated investments in the UK without authorisation. In New York, investors are pursuing a multimillion-dollar class action against BitMEX for alleged theft of bitcoin and insider trading; those claims have been vigorously denied. Delo, alongside cofounders Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed, pleaded guilty in the United States in 2022 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act over failures to comply with anti-money-laundering requirements.

Gareth Keillor of Seladore Legal, representing Barber, says the proceedings may have wider relevance for other UK residents who traded on similar contracts, though whether any individual has a claim depends on their own facts and trading history. Delo wrote in the Daily Telegraph that his £36m donation to Reform was made because he wanted "a fair fight and a level playing field."