The cryptocurrency market continues to experience a decline. While many exchanges and crypto projects have decided to shut down, the latest news comes from the biggest name in the market.
In this context, BitMEX, a pioneer in Bitcoin and cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges, announced that it has decided to completely cease its exchange operations following a strategic review process.
As a result, BitMEX announced that it would cease its exchange operations at 04:00 UTC on September 23, following a strategic review of its business model and the cryptocurrency industry.
According to the statement, the exchange announced that new user registrations were immediately suspended and asked existing users to close their open positions and withdraw assets from their accounts by the specified date.
BitMEX said the closing process would be implemented gradually. Starting at 04:00 UTC on August 26, users will no longer be able to open new positions and will only be able to reduce existing ones. All open positions remaining at the close before will be liquidated before the end of trading, and all positions still recorded at the close will be liquidated immediately.
BitMEX added that after the closure, users will still be able to log in, check their balances and withdraw assets, but trading services will no longer be available.
BitMEX also said that users can continue to log into their accounts, view their balances and withdraw assets even after trading services have ended. However, users who continue to leave assets in their accounts after closure, despite having completed the KYC (Know Your Customer) verification process, will be charged a monthly account custody fee of $50 or an annual fee of 1%, whichever is greater.
Founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, BitMEX played an important role in the development of the cryptocurrency derivatives market as one of its first major exchanges. Of particular note is its role in popularizing perpetual swap trading, thereby maintaining its market leadership for many years.
However, since 2020, the company has faced various pressures, including lawsuits from the US Department of Justice and the CFTC. BitMEX, which lost its leadership in the derivatives market after 2014 to companies that entered the market later, such as Binance, Bybit and OKX, attempted to sell, but no deal was finalized.
BitMEX’s decision to cease operations is seen as the official end of an era in the crypto derivatives market, with the withdrawal of one of the industry’s first major players once again highlighting the impact of regulatory pressures and increasing competition on the sector.
*This does not constitute investment advice.