Bitmex products are not ordinary options in that there is no physical deliver of the underlying. They're a cash settled side bet (in the case of bitmex the cash

Bitmex products are not ordinary options in that there is no physical deliver of the underlying. They're a cash settled side bet (in the case of bitmex the cash in Bitcoin, but that doesn't at all change it from being cash settled) where the house is the counterparty (even if there is an offsetting trader, it's the houses "insurance fund" that provides for the likelihood of delivery). It's not reasonable to compare the service to a US retail stock brokerage. You could compare it to the sort of CFD platforms that are popular in the UK, but those services (at least as retail offerings) are unlawful in the US in part because they're very far towards gambling on the gambling/investment spectrum. Besides, I wasn't complaining that bitmex is a casino. I'm pointing out that the specific casino-ness of their operations (that it's purely bitcoin in and out) undermines the argument that they were providing banking or exchange services to criminals.