Adam Todd, former CEO of Digitex Futures Exchange, has pleaded guilty to violating Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations, failing to implement mandatory measures as required by the Bank Secrecy Act. He faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, with sentencing yet to be announced.

Todd admitted to allowing Digitex to operate an unregistered futures trading platform for U.S. customers from 2018 to 2022 without implementing AML and Know Your Customer (KYC) protocols. This plea was made in the federal court of the Southern District of Florida, as announced by the U.S. Attorney's Office on May 7.

Todd's guilty plea comes with significant legal consequences. He may face five years in prison or a $250,000 fine, although his sentencing date has not been disclosed. In a similar case, Changpeng Zhao, former CEO of Binance, was convicted of the same offenses and sentenced to four months in prison in April.

Todd left his position as CEO of Digitex in October 2022 and has since worked as the chief developer for Digitex Games. In 2020, he announced the discontinuation of KYC checks after a massive data leak exposed confidential user data, despite earlier claims that U.S. IPs were blocked and users would have to confirm they were not located in the United States.

In addition to criminal charges, Todd and Digitex faced civil litigation by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). In 2022, the CFTC filed a lawsuit against Todd and Digitex, and in 2023, a court ruling ordered them to pay $16 million in penalties and disgorgement for failing to comply with U.S. laws.