BitMEX to Shut Down Exchange on Sept. 23, Urges Withdrawals

BitMEX will permanently shut down its exchange on Sept. 23, the crypto derivatives venue said on Thursday, telling users to close positions and withdraw funds before the deadline. Owner and operator HDR Global Trading Limited made the decision "following a strategic review of the business," according to the notice posted to BitMEX's official X account and its blog.

"We strongly encourage all users to close their positions and withdraw their funds as soon as convenient," BitMEX said, adding that user assets "remain fully safe and under your control during this transition period."

The exchange said it invented the 100x leverage perpetual swap, "now the most traded financial product in the crypto industry," and cited an 11-plus-year operating history. Arthur Hayes co-founded BitMEX in 2014. Hayes posted that he was "so proud of what we created and that we will shutdown responsibly on our own terms."

The BMEX token plunged on the news, down roughly 91% over 24 hours, with a circulating market cap near $540,000, per CoinGecko.

Wind-down timeline

BitMEX will apply risk limits from Aug. 26 that block new positions and permit only reduce-only trades, and will force-close any positions still open ahead of the shutdown. Anything open at closure gets force-closed immediately. New account registrations stopped the same day as the announcement.

KYC'd users who fail to withdraw by the closure time will be charged a monthly account fee of $50 equivalent or 1% per annum, whichever is greater, on remaining balances. Withdrawals and login access will remain available after closure.

The exchange had been seeking a buyer since February 2025, when it retained Broadhaven Capital Partners to run a sale process; BitMEX did not disclose whether that process produced a bidder. BitMEX pleaded guilty in 2024 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act over an inadequate anti-money laundering program and was hit with an additional $100 million fine in January 2025. President Donald Trump pardoned the co-founders in March 2025.