BitMEX to Fully Shut Down by September 23 After Two-Year Failed Search for a Buyer

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX spent about two years searching for a buyer before deciding to shut down, ArzDigital reported. Despite working with investment advisory firm Broadhaven Capital Partners, the exchange could not reach a deal with potential buyers including rival exchanges and Exodus. BitMEX had sought about $1 billion for the business, but a drop in trading volume from $100 billion a month in 2021 to less than $30 billion by late 2024, combined with a complex ownership structure with founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reid retaining control, and legal cases over banking law violations and money laundering allegations, reduced the deal's appeal to buyers. Under the announced plan, trading will move to a "reduce only" mode starting August 26, 2026, with all operations fully halted by September 23, 2026, ending 11 years for an exchange that introduced perpetual futures contracts to the market in 2016.