Crypto Exchange CoinEx to Shut Down Citing Falling Volumes and Rising Compliance Costs
Key Takeaways
- •CoinEx is shutting down, attributing the closure to a prolonged crypto market downturn, declining trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory and compliance costs.
- •The exchange will discontinue non-spot services and onchain deposits on Sept. 22, end spot trading on Sept. 29, and cease operations when the withdrawal period closes on Dec. 22.
- •USDT balances not withdrawn by Dec. 22 will be transferred to an independent custodian that charges a monthly custody fee.
- •CoinEx will buy back its native CET token at its initial listing price of 0.005 USDT per token, slightly above the price traded before the announcement.
- •CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will remain fully operational because they run independently of the exchange, so users need not relocate funds held in those products.
Crypto exchange CoinEx announced on Tuesday that it is winding down operations, citing a prolonged crypto market downturn, sinking trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory and compliance costs.
As part of the wind-down, the platform will halt new user registrations, referral commissions and other rewards. Futures contracts will enter a “Reduce-Only” mode, and CoinEx will stop accepting new orders or subscriptions across its fiat, margin trading, lending, earn, staking and strategic trading services.
“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,” CoinEx CEO Haipo Yang said in a post on X.
The exchange laid out a phased shutdown schedule. From Sept. 22, all non-spot services and onchain deposits will be discontinued, with the exception of CET deposits. From Sept. 29, all spot trading services will be discontinued and non-USDT assets will be processed. From Dec. 22, the withdrawal period will end and the platform will cease operations. Any unwithdrawn USDT will be transferred to an independent custodian, which will incur a monthly custody fee. For users, that makes Dec. 22 the operative deadline: balances left on the exchange after that date become subject to recurring custody charges.
CoinEx will also buy back CET, the exchange’s native token, at its initial listing price of 0.005 USDT per token — a slightly higher price than it traded at on Monday before the announcement. The buyback gives CET holders a fixed-price exit at the token’s original listing terms.
The closure adds CoinEx to a wave of crypto exchanges that have ceased operations this year for similar reasons, including BitMart, BitMEX and AscendEX. BitMEX is set to shut down after 11 years in crypto derivatives.
CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will remain fully operational, as they operate independently of the exchange, meaning users do not need to relocate funds held in those products during the wind-down.
CoinEx was launched in December 2017 by crypto mining pool ViaBTC. According to CoinMarketCap, the exchange is ranked 33rd with $58 million in 24-hour trading volume — a position well below the largest global exchanges by that measure.
The announcement closed with a farewell message to users: “To every user who has trusted and supported us over the past nine years, thank you for your trust and support in the past nine years. Thank you for being part of our journey.”
