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BitMEX to shut down operations in September, urging users to withdraw
BitMEX said the closure will take effect Sept. 23 and told customers to close open positions and withdraw funds before then, citing a strategic review by its owner.
Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX said it will shut down its operations in September and urged customers to withdraw their assets ahead of the closure date, according to Reuters via Yahoo Finance.
BitMEX did not provide a specific reason for ending operations, but said the decision followed a strategic review by its owner, Seychelles-registered HDR Global Trading, and called on users to close open positions and withdraw their funds before Sept. 23.
The move comes as crypto prices have faltered. Reuters noted that analyst Thomas Probst at Kaiko said BitMEX’s closure could signal that larger exchanges keep gaining share over smaller or newer venues, though he added BitMEX’s limited market share suggests likely limited overall impact.
Probst said BitMEX has daily trading volumes of around $400,000 and a market share of less than 0.01%, and Reuters added that BitMEX’s co-founders Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes and Samuel Reed pleaded guilty in 2022 to failing to implement a compliant anti-money-laundering program that prosecutors said violated U.S. requirements from 2015 to 2020. Trump pardoned the founders last year, and BitMEX said it was founded in 2014 with more than 2 million traders on its platform, according to its website.