UK Trader Seeks 324.8 BTC From BitMEX Over 1,053 Losing Trades

A British software engineer is pursuing 324.8 Bitcoin in the High Court in London from HDR Global Trading Limited, the Seychelles-incorporated operator of the BitMEX exchange, over losses on 1,053 perpetual swap trades placed between 2018 and 2022, according to Financemagnates.

The claimant, Lewis Barber, is described by News.bitcoin as a software engineer from Chelford, Cheshire who traded through five accounts. His challenge covers only the trades that lost money, leaving the rest of his roughly 2,294 transactions untouched. The two outlets value the demand differently: Financemagnates put it at £20.4 million as of October 1, while News.bitcoin reported it at approximately $26.5 million on October 14.

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Key facts

• Barber is seeking 324.8 Bitcoin, or equivalent damages plus interest, from HDR Global Trading Limited.
• The claim challenges 1,053 of about 2,294 trades placed across five accounts between 2018 and 2022.
• The legal argument rests on Section 26 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, which allows a customer to seek the return of money or property transferred under an agreement made during unauthorised regulated activity.
• In March 2020, while Barber was still trading, the Financial Conduct Authority warned that BitMEX might be providing financial services in the UK without authorisation.
• His lawyers at Seladore Legal formally sought to rescind the transactions in December 2025, according to News.bitcoin.

Why the claim targets only losing trades

Barber’s case turns on a narrower proposition than unwinding his whole history on the platform. He argues BitMEX entered into the disputed perpetual swaps without the UK authorisation the law requires, and applies that argument only to the transactions that cost him money. A court has not yet decided whether Section 26 reaches those trades, or what sum he could recover.

Even a proven authorisation breach would not settle the matter. Under Section 28, a court may enforce the agreement, or permit the provider to retain the property transferred, if it considers that outcome just and equitable.

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For the argument to succeed, the court must also weigh BitMEX’s UK activity. The claim says the platform let users select the country as their place of residence and did not block access from there, and cites a BitMEX advertisement published in The Times in January 2019. The FCA warning that followed did not determine whether Barber’s particular trades breached UK rules, and that question remains part of the case.

Price tag, service and the exchange’s wind-down

News.bitcoin reported that BitMEX representatives dispute the procedural footing of the case. A BitMEX spokesperson told The Guardian’s Daniel Boffey that no such claim has been served on HDR Global Trading Limited. The action has reportedly been filed, but the same outlet says no hearing date has been announced, and the allegations remain untested.

BitMEX ceased trading operations on Sept. 23, 2026, following a strategic review and an orderly wind-down, with withdrawals still available, per News.bitcoin. The exchange was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, and pioneered perpetual swaps in crypto markets.

Barber’s solicitors at Seladore Legal are inviting other former UK-based BitMEX clients to register their interest, and say each person’s trading history and circumstances will be assessed before any decision on whether a claim is viable. Gareth Keillor, a partner at the firm, noted that other British traders may have entered comparable contracts.

Why it matters

The outcome could shape how far UK customers of offshore derivatives venues can reach back into historical trades, rather than treating past losses as the ordinary cost of speculation. That question extends beyond one exchange: Financemagnates reported that 1,692 traders have filed a separate lawsuit alleging Binance sold them derivatives it was not authorised to offer, and neither case has established liability for the exchange concerned.

What to watch

Two milestones will drive the story: formal service of the claim on HDR Global Trading Limited, which the company says has not happened, and the court’s eventual ruling on whether Section 26 covers perpetual swap losses of this kind. Any scheduling of a hearing would be the first public signal of pace.

Written by

Emily Torres

Emily Torres covers cryptocurrency and decentralized finance for StockPil, tracking blockchain markets and regulatory developments.

Sources: Finance Magnates, News.bitcoin