BitMEX shutdown reaches its final stage
BitMEX will formally end exchange operations at 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23, equivalent to 9:30 a.m. in India. Any positions still open at that time will be closed by the system using the relevant settlement price or index under the exchange’s standard procedures.
As crypto.news reported in July, BitMEX initially gave customers two months to close positions and remove their funds. Risk limits introduced on Aug. 26 prevented users from opening new positions while allowing them to reduce existing exposure.
During July and August, the exchange began removing markets with limited trading activity. BitMEX delisted 35 derivatives contracts on July 30 and another 18 on Aug. 11, followed by several spot pairs, perpetual swaps, and Convert-supported tokens.
The final derivatives round included XBTUSD, XBTUSDT, ETHUSD and ETHUSDT perpetual swaps. BitMEX also settled the XBTU26, XBTZ26, XBTH27 and ETHUSDU26 futures contracts on Sep. 16.
Although the formal closure is set for Sep. 23, the removal of the remaining spot pairs and Convert service means users can no longer access the exchange’s main trading products. BitMEX’s limited post-closure interface will support withdrawals, transaction records and wallet-balance checks rather than trading.
Deposits will be credited only until the closure time. BitMEX warned that funds sent to its deposit addresses after 04:00 UTC on Sep. 23 will not appear in customer accounts and may be unrecoverable.
Withdrawals remain open under tighter conditions
Customers who have not removed their assets will retain account access after the exchange closes. BitMEX said its post-closure website will display balances, transaction histories and withdrawal pages, while the trading interface and other discontinued services will disappear.
From Sep. 23, verified accounts containing funds will face a monthly charge based on the higher of $50 or an annual rate of 1%. BitMEX will deduct the charge from the remaining account balance without taking it below zero.
If a balance is lower than the minimum withdrawal amount, the fee may reduce it to zero. The company also reserves the right to raise the charge after providing advance notice.
General application programming interface access will end when the exchange closes, but API withdrawals will remain available until 04:00 UTC on Sep. 28. Institutional withdrawal connections involving Fireblocks and Copper will stop working after that deadline, leaving the BitMEX website as the only withdrawal channel.
At the same time, BitMEX will remove its multi-network withdrawal option for USDT, USDC, and $ETH. From Sep. 28, customers will only be able to withdraw the three assets through the Ethereum network.
Returning customers may also need to update their know-your-customer information before withdrawing funds. BitMEX said some users could face a test-transaction requirement and a security cooldown, while minimum withdrawal limits will apply separately to each asset.
The company has warned customers about phishing attempts linked to the closure. BitMEX said it does not offer priority withdrawals and advised users to reject messages claiming they can provide faster access to funds.
BitMEX also said customer assets remain fully backed and pointed to its proof-of-reserves and liabilities records. According to the exchange, no customer funds have been lost through a hack during its 11 years of operation.
Failed buyer search preceded the BitMEX closure
Before approving the shutdown, BitMEX reportedly spent about two years discussing a sale with potential buyers. Rival exchanges and wallet company Exodus were among the parties linked to the talks, while Broadhaven Capital Partners reportedly advised BitMEX during the process.
A later report on negotiations said BitMEX sought a valuation of about $1 billion, though it remained unclear whether any prospective buyer made a formal offer. The discussions ended without an agreement before HDR Global Trading completed its review.
Founder ownership reportedly complicated the proposed transaction. Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed left management after U.S. authorities filed criminal charges in 2020, but the three continued to control most of the company’s equity, according to the report.
Declining activity also weighed on buyer interest. BitMEX’s monthly futures volume had topped $100 billion during parts of 2021 but fell to between $25 billion and $30 billion by late 2024, according to figures cited in the report.
Trading activity moved to larger centralized platforms and decentralized perpetual exchanges during the same period. Hyperliquid recorded about $2.6 trillion in notional volume during 2025, according to Artemis data, compared with approximately $1.4 trillion for Coinbase.
Reuters separately cited Kaiko data showing BitMEX with roughly $400,000 in daily trading volume and a market share below 0.01% when the closure was announced. Kaiko analyst Thomas Probst said the exchange’s small share meant its exit was unlikely to have a major effect on the market.
BitMEX helped establish perpetual swaps as a central crypto derivatives product through its XBTUSD contract. Unlike standard futures, perpetual swaps have no expiry date and use recurring funding payments to keep their prices close to the underlying asset.
U.S. cases follow BitMEX into its final days
BitMEX’s U.S. legal history remains relevant as the company shuts its exchange. American authorities accused the platform of serving U.S. customers without sufficient anti-money-laundering and customer-identification controls.
The company pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and received a $100 million penalty in January 2025. A federal judge also imposed two years of unsupervised probation on HDR Global Trading.
President Donald Trump later pardoned Hayes, Delo and Reed, along with former BitMEX executive Gregory Dwyer and the corporate entity. Earlier coverage of the pardons noted that the founders had admitted to federal violations linked to the exchange’s failure to maintain an adequate anti-money-laundering program.
Separate civil claims are still moving through U.S. courts. On Sep. 12, the Celsius bankruptcy estate sued five BitMEX entities in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York over liquidations during the March 2020 market crash.
The Celsius estate lawsuit seeks the return of 6,360.17 Bitcoin, valued in the complaint at about $495 million. Its claims include fraudulent transfer, conversion, breach of contract, breach of the implied duty of good faith, and unjust enrichment.
“BitMEX intentionally designed its platform and liquidation procedures to cause liquidations of collateral and defraud its own customers,” the complaint alleges.
The filing claims BitMEX controlled both the liquidation system and the insurance fund that received assets from some closed positions. It further alleges that the exchange kept excess Bitcoin collateral after settling Celsius-linked accounts.
BitMEX has not been found liable for the alleged conduct. The complaint remains at an early stage, and the amount recovered by the Celsius estate will depend on the court’s findings and any relief it grants.
A separate proposed class action filed in July accuses BitMEX of retaining 622.66 BTC that should have been returned to customers after liquidations. Plaintiffs BKX Services and David Namdar seek to represent eligible U.S. traders who used BitMEX Bitcoin perpetual products in transactions dating from July 23, 2018.
