Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX announced Thursday that it will permanently cease operations on September 23, assuring users that their assets remain safe and accessible in the meantime.
HDR Global Trading, the company that owns and operates BitMEX, made the decision following an internal strategic review of the business, according to a statement the exchange posted on X.
The platform is urging all users to close any open trading positions and withdraw their funds ahead of the shutdown date.
BitMEX has a troubled legal history. Its three co-founders — Benjamin Delo, Arthur Hayes, and Samuel Reed — entered guilty pleas in 2022 for failing to put in place an anti-money laundering program that complied with the Bank Secrecy Act.
Federal prosecutors had alleged that BitMEX and its founders deliberately violated the Bank Secrecy Act from 2015 through 2020 by not establishing anti-money laundering safeguards or “know your customer” verification systems.
U.S. President Donald Trump later pardoned the three co-founders as part of his administration’s broader push for lighter regulation of the cryptocurrency industry.
BitMEX was established in 2014 and serves institutional and professional traders through a derivatives exchange platform. The company’s website lists more than 2 million traders currently using the platform.
The closure arrives at a difficult time for the broader crypto market. Bitcoin has given back the majority of its gains from last year, when Trump won the presidency for a second time. The digital currency was most recently trading at $65,676 — nearly 50% below its all-time peak of $126,223.18 reached in October of last year.
Crypto markets have faced headwinds throughout the year, driven by increased market volatility and a sustained outflow from exchange-traded funds that follow digital assets.
During his campaign, Trump actively courted cryptocurrency donors and pledged to support crypto businesses during his second term. However, sluggish progress on federal crypto legislation and concerns about potential bitcoin sell-offs by companies holding digital assets in their treasuries have weighed on investor confidence.
