After 11 years of operation, BitMEX has stopped trading and deposits, retaining only withdrawals

The cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX has ceased trading, deposits, and opening new positions, retaining only the withdrawal function. The platform announced on social media platform X that as of this Tuesday at 04:00 UTC, the aforementioned services will no longer be available. Users can still log in and withdraw their balances through the official website, but deposits have been confirmed as impossible. BitMEX was co-founded by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed in 2014, known for promoting perpetual contracts as mainstream trading tools in the cryptocurrency derivatives market.

BitMEX urges customers to withdraw their funds as soon as possible and states that account fees will be charged to users with completed KYC certification who still have a balance, billed monthly, at a standard of 1% annualized on assets or a minimum equivalent of $50, whichever is higher. The company emphasizes that this shutdown does not freeze customer assets, and the withdrawal channel remains open during the liquidation process.

BitMEX announced its closure in July this year, following a strategic assessment by its parent company HDR Global Trading, as the exchange's market share in the perpetual contract market it helped create continued to decline. According to research data from CoinDesk, the monthly trading volume of centralized cryptocurrency exchange derivatives reached $3.4 trillion in August, with an annual scale potentially reaching $50 trillion. Previously, BitMart also announced its shutdown in July after nine years of operation due to market conditions.