[Digital Today reporter Yoonseo Lee] Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX will shut down operations on Sept. 23 local time.

According to foreign media outlets including blockchain media U.Today and Cryptopolitan, BitMEX operator HDR Global Trading said it decided to permanently close the exchange after reviewing its business strategy and overall conditions in the cryptocurrency market.

New account registrations were suspended from the day of the notice. From Aug. 26, risk limits will apply, blocking the opening of new positions and allowing only reductions of existing positions. Any positions not closed by Sept. 23, when the exchange shuts down, will be liquidated immediately.

BitMEX said it is not responsible for losses incurred when users fail to close positions by the deadline. It said account logins will still be possible after the closure to check balances and transaction history and withdraw remaining funds. It also said all staked BMEX, BitMEX's native token, was unstaked and returned to user accounts.

If users who have completed know-your-customer checks leave assets on the platform after the closure, a fee of $50 per month or 1 percent of the annual balance, whichever is greater, will be charged. The fee will be deducted monthly and may accumulate if assets remain.

The company said it does not provide priority withdrawal services and urged caution against crimes that exploit the closure process. It said its reserves can cover all customer liabilities and also disclosed proof of reserves. Based on CoinMarketCap tallies, BitMEX's total assets are known to be about $1 billion.

BitMEX appointed investment bank Broadhaven Capital Partners in February 2025 and pursued a sale but failed to find a buyer. At the end of June this year, CEO Stephan Lutz (스테판 루츠), CFO Ina Steiner (이나 슈타이너) and CGO Raphael Polansky (라파엘 폴란스키) left the company. Peter Wilkinson (피터 윌킨슨), who served as global general counsel and chief operating officer, later took over as CEO.

BitMEX is an exchange founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed. It helped drive growth in the crypto derivatives market in 2016 by introducing bitcoin perpetual contracts offering leverage of up to 100 times.

Major exchanges including Binance, Bybit, OKX and Deribit later introduced perpetual contracts in succession, making the product a leading derivative in the cryptocurrency market. BitMEX grew on the back of high trading volume to the point that it accounted for about 50 percent of global crypto futures open interest around 2019.

Its market dominance weakened rapidly as U.S. regulatory sanctions began in earnest in 2020. The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission determined BitMEX illegally offered commodity derivatives in the United States and did not establish adequate anti-money laundering procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also indicted the co-founders on charges of violating the Bank Secrecy Act. The co-founders stepped back from day-to-day management shortly after the indictment.

BitMEX later strengthened its regulatory compliance framework but failed to regain leadership in the derivatives market. In the meantime, Binance, Bybit and OKX rapidly expanded their market shares.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (창펑 자오), also known as CZ, reacted to the news that BitMEX will shut down operations. He said BitMEX pioneered 100-times leverage perpetual contracts in the cryptocurrency market and showed respect for Arthur Hayes. He also said he believed BitMEX failed to withstand a war on cryptocurrency under the previous administration.

BitMEX, which once led the crypto derivatives market, saw its influence weaken amid regulatory pressure and intensifying competition and will ultimately exit the market 11 years after its founding. In particular, its influence in establishing 100-times leverage perpetual contracts will remain in the industry's history even after the shutdown.

Sad to see BitMex go. Some thoughts: BitMex pioneered 100x perps in crypto back in 2014. Delivery futures existed before then, making Fridays hectic. BTC deposits only, one chain only, withdrawals only once per day, through a multi-sig wallet. The constraints that seemed… https://t.co/8kP8byy37y