Overview
- Lewis Barber filed a claim in London on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, seeking the return of 324.8 BTC worth roughly £20.4 million for losses on BitMEX perpetual-swap trades.
- The filing targets HDR Global Trading Limited and challenges 1,053 losing perpetual-swap trades Barber made between 2018 and 2022 from five accounts.
- Barber’s lawyers argue the trades were a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and therefore void because BitMEX lacked FCA authorization, which would entitle him to restitution.
- The claim has been filed but not yet formally served on HDR Global, and it follows BitMEX’s shutdown on September 23, 2026, leaving the company facing overlapping civil actions.
- If the court accepts Barber’s legal theory, his lawyers say many other UK users could bring similar claims and that combined liabilities could run into the hundreds of millions of pounds; the case sits against a backdrop of earlier U.S. guilty pleas and a $100 million penalty for the exchange.