BitMEX announced on July 23, 2026, that it will permanently close the exchange effective September 23, 2026, at 04:00:00 UTC, stopping new account registrations immediately following what owner and operator HDR Global Trading Limited described as a strategic review of the business.
The End of an Era
BitMEX said it has experienced zero customer funds lost to hacks across more than 11 years of operation, and credited itself with inventing the 100x leverage perpetual swap, now the most widely traded product in crypto derivatives markets and adopted across thousands of exchanges.
Co-founded by Arthur Hayes in 2014, BitMEX was once among the world’s dominant derivatives exchanges before losing market share to Binance and Bybit, according to WuBlockchain.
Hayes and his co-founders stepped down from the company after facing US criminal charges in 2020, and a reported effort to sell the exchange in 2025 did not result in an announced deal.
Readers can find more on Hayes’ background and current ventures in our Arthur Hayes crypto personality profile.
What BitMEX Users Need to Do
The company is urging all users to close open positions and withdraw funds as soon as practical, and laid out a specific timeline users should track closely.
Risk limits take effect August 26, 2026, at 04:00:00 UTC, after which users can only reduce existing positions, not open new ones.
Between that date and the September 23 closure, BitMEX will begin force-closing open positions to manage an orderly wind-down, and any positions still open at the closure deadline will be force-closed immediately, with BitMEX stating it takes no responsibility for losses resulting from an inability to close positions in that window.
Contracts trading with limited liquidity will go through early settlement procedures under BitMEX’s normal notice process.
All staked BMEX tokens have already been unstaked and are available in holder accounts now.
Users who complete KYC but fail to withdraw their assets by the closure deadline will be charged a monthly account fee equal to $50 or 1% per annum on their remaining balance, whichever is greater, a fee BitMEX said will apply automatically and can increase over time with advance notice.
The company also warned of heightened phishing risk during the wind-down period, stating explicitly that no expedited or priority withdrawal service exists, and that additional review procedures on withdrawals may add processing time, particularly for blockchains like Bitcoin where confirmation times can run up to an hour.
BitMEX said all client assets exceed liabilities according to its published Proof of Reserves and Liabilities page.
What Comes Next
BitMEX users have roughly two months before the risk-limit phase begins and about two months after that before the exchange closes entirely, giving a defined but not unlimited window to exit positions and withdraw funds under normal conditions rather than during a compressed final rush.
What this means for you: if you hold funds or open positions on BitMEX, prioritize closing positions and withdrawing before August 26 rather than waiting until closer to the September 23 deadline, since force-closures and processing delays become more likely the later you act.
