Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has halted new user registrations and begun a phased shutdown of its platform, saying the economics of continuing to operate no longer justified the growing security, compliance, and infrastructure burden.

The company said shrinking trading volumes and liquidity, combined with increasingly demanding regulatory requirements across major markets, had pushed costs beyond what the exchange could sustainably support.

Chief Executive Haipo Yang said the company had considered its options before choosing an orderly closure rather than pursuing a sale or another transaction.

“After much reflection, I have come to accept a hard truth. CoinEx did not become one of the industry’s leading exchanges, and the security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain,” Yang said.

The decision underscores the rising cost of operating centralized crypto exchanges as regulators impose stricter requirements around customer protection, compliance, custody, and market oversight — obligations that in practice translate into licensing, customer dueiligence programs, and ongoing reporting. For smaller and mid-sized platforms, those costs can become harder to absorb when trading activity and fee revenue weaken.

Reserves Exceed 100%, Company Says

CoinEx said its reserves currently exceed 100%, meaning customer assets remain fully backed. The exchange has regularly published proof-of-reserve data, and its latest disclosure, published in August 2026, reaffirmed its 100% reserve policy. Proof-of-reserve disclosures are intended to let users verify that an exchange’s holdings cover customer balances, and have become a common transparency measure among centralized platforms.

That distinction is significant for users as CoinEx enters its shutdown phase: the company is presenting the closure as an orderly wind-down rather than a liquidity failure or insolvency event.

Withdrawals Remain Open Until December 22, 2026

CoinEx’s services will be withdrawn progressively rather than all at once. Withdrawals will remain available until December 22, 2026, when the exchange will officially cease operations, giving customers more than three months from the announcement to move their assets off the platform.

Users who leave funds on the platform beyond the withdrawal deadline will face additional custody arrangements rather than continued access to the exchange. Any remaining USDT will be transferred to an independent custodian and be subject to a monthly custody fee, according to reports on the shutdown plan.

CET Tokens to Be Repurchased at Fixed Price

CoinEx will repurchase remaining CET tokens held by users at 0.005 USDT per token. The buyback gives CET holders a defined exit price as the exchange disappears, rather than leaving the token dependent on an operating market that will no longer exist.

Wallet and Vault Products to Continue

The shutdown does not mean every CoinEx-branded service is disappearing. According to the company, CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will continue operating separately. The exchange itself, however, will no longer provide the centralized trading infrastructure that supported CoinEx’s spot and other trading products.

CoinEx was launched in December 2017 and became part of a broader ecosystem built around the CET token, the exchange’s native asset, and CoinEx Smart Chain. Its closure comes as the crypto exchange sector faces a more difficult operating environment, with platforms competing for a smaller pool of trading activity while spending more on compliance, security, and regulatory infrastructure.

The company said the orderly shutdown was intended to protect users and preserve trust rather than prolong a business model it no longer considered sustainable. As the wind-down proceeds, the milestones to watch are withdrawal activity ahead of the December 22 deadline, execution of the CET repurchase, and the handoff of any leftover USDT to independent custody.

Source: BitcoinKE — CoinEx to Shut Down After 9 Years as Trading Volumes, Compliance Costs Bite, September 15, 2026