BitMEX’s parent company, HDR Global Trading Limited, said it will permanently close the BitMEX exchange on September 23, 2026, bringing an end to the platform’s 11-year run. The closure marks the exit of one of the most influential platforms in crypto history — the exchange that invented the perpetual swap, a product now offered by virtually every major derivatives venue in the industry. The company announced the closure after a review of the business and broader crypto market conditions.

The exchange, known for popularizing the perpetual swap and offering up to 100x leverage, has stopped accepting new account registrations. Existing users have about two months to close positions and withdraw funds before the platform shuts down.

HDR Global Trading approves permanent closure

HDR Global Trading Limited said its board decided to close BitMEX permanently after evaluating the company’s position and the wider market. The company published the closure notice on its official blog:

BitMEX launched in 2014 under founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed. The exchange built its reputation around its Bitcoin perpetual contract, which offered leverage of up to 100x. BitMEX introduced the perpetual swap in May 2016, and the product later became one of the most widely traded instruments in the crypto market. The so-called “perp” — a derivative with no expiry date that tracks an underlying asset’s price through a funding-rate mechanism — became the template for the entire crypto derivatives sector and remains the dominant contract type across exchanges today.

The exchange’s position weakened after October 2020, when the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission charged BitMEX with illegally offering commodity derivatives and failing to implement anti-money-laundering procedures. The U.S. Department of Justice also brought criminal charges against the founders under the Bank Secrecy Act, alleging they willfully failed to establish and maintain adequate anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer programs.

Hayes, Delo, and Reed stepped down shortly after the charges were filed. BitMEX later pleaded guilty in 2024 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and received an additional $100 million fine in January 2025. President Donald Trump pardoned the co-founders in March 2025.

BitMEX did not regain its earlier position in the derivatives market after the regulatory cases. The platform lost market share to rivals including Binance, Bybit, and OKX. The timing was consequential: crypto derivatives trading volume exploded in subsequent years, and competitors that captured the market BitMEX vacated went on to process trillions in annual volume, leaving the original perpetual-swap pioneer increasingly marginal in the sector it created.

The company had been seeking a buyer since February 2025, when it retained Broadhaven Capital Partners to manage a sale process. That process did not result in a transaction. In late June 2026, BitMEX also made major leadership changes, with CEO Stephan Lutz, CFO Ina Steiner, and Chief Growth Officer Raphael Polansky all departing. Peter Wilkinson, previously the firm’s global general counsel and chief operating officer, became CEO.

BitMEX also posted about the closure on X: https://x.com/BitMEX/status/2080201602456301580?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet.

Users must close positions before the deadline

BitMEX users now have until the September 23 shutdown date to close open positions and withdraw assets. Beginning August 26, 2026, the exchange will introduce risk limits that prevent traders from opening new positions. After that date, users will only be able to reduce existing positions.

The exchange said it will then begin force-closing positions gradually as part of an orderly wind-down. Any positions still open when the exchange closes in September will be liquidated immediately. BitMEX said it will not accept responsibility for losses connected to a user’s failure to exit positions before the deadline.

After the shutdown, customers will still be able to log in to their accounts to check balances, review transaction history, and withdraw remaining funds. BitMEX said all staked BMEX tokens have already been unstaked and returned to holder accounts.

KYC-verified customers who leave assets on the platform after the deadline will be charged a monthly fee equal to $50 or 1% per year, whichever is higher, based on the remaining balance. The charge will be deducted monthly and may increase over time for accounts that continue to hold assets.

BitMEX warned users to be alert for scams during the wind-down and said there is no priority withdrawal service. The company said its reserves cover all customer liabilities and referred users to its Proof of Reserves page. CoinMarketCap data listed BitMEX’s total exchange assets at roughly $1 billion: