BitMEX's closure comes as decentralized perpetual exchanges continue to gain market share, with Hyperliquid helping push perp DEXs to 13.5% of total open interest.
- BitMEX, the crypto exchange that first offered perpetual swaps and 100x leverage trading, will close on Sept. 23 following a strategic review by its owner, HDR Global Trading.
- BMEX plunged over 90% following the announcement, reducing the exchange token's market capitalization to roughly $497,000.
- New user registrations are halted, cuts in positions will begin Aug. 26, and any open positions remaining at shutdown will be forcibly closed.
An exchange that helped define modern crypto derivatives is closing its doors soon. BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange co-founded by Arthur Hayes in 2014 that introduced perpetual swaps and 100x leverage trading, will cease operations in September, following a strategic review by its owner, HDR Global Trading Limited.
The news sent BitMEX's native token, BMEX, plunging over 90% on Thursday. This move comes at a time when decentralized perpetual exchanges led by Hyperliquid (HYPE) continue to chip away at centralized rivals’ market share.
What Users Need To Know Before The Shutdown
The exchange announced that it will shut down on September 23¯. The company framed the closure as an end of a chapter rather than a distressed exit, saying in its statement that“It may not look the same today, but we are proud of our 11+ year legacy and the role we played in shaping the crypto industry.
Registration for new users is no longer being accepted. Starting August 26, users will only be able to reduce existing positions, not take new trades. Any positions not closed by the September 23 deadline will be forcibly liquidated. BitMEX said user assets remained fully secure and under customer control during the wind-down, but know-your-customer (KYC)- verified users who do not withdraw in time will be charged an account management fee.
BMEX’s price crashed by over 90% when news of its closure broke. Its market cap stands at roughly $4.9 thousand. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around BMEX remained in the ‘extremely bullish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘extremely high’ levels over the past day.
The Exchange That Changed Crypto Derivatives
BitMEX created the 100x-leverage perpetual swap in 2014, which became the most-traded product in crypto and was later adopted by the industry. The exchange claimed that it has not lost a single customer dollar to hacks in its 11 years of service, a security record that runs counter to its legal past.
In 2022, BitMEX and its three co-founders, Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed, pleaded guilty to violations of the Bank Secrecy Act for failing to maintain an anti-money laundering (AML) program, paying a combined $30 million in Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) penalties.
President Trump pardoned all three founders in March 2025, wiping away their convictions just about a year before the exchange’s own shutdown announcement.
DeFi Perpetual Exchanges Continue To Gain Ground
BitMEX’s shutdown also comes amidst a broader market-structure shift.
Perpetuals on centralized exchanges (CEX) dropped 10% to $12.7 trillion in volume in the second quarter of 2026, according to CoinGecko’s Crypto Industry Report, but decentralized exchanges (DEX) kept gaining ground, led by Hyperliquid, with perp DEXs’ share of total open interest climbing to 13.5%.
Hayes himself has had a volatile relationship with HYPE. In May, he called HYPE, Zcash (ZEC), and Near Protocol (NEAR) crypto's "holy trinity," only to dump his entire HYPE and NEAR positions a month later.
HYPE’s price was trading flat in the past 24 hours. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around HYPE remained in the ‘bearish’ zone, while chatter around it stayed at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.
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