BitMEX Sale Fails as Founder Stakes, Shrinking Volumes Deter Buyers

BitMEX, the crypto derivatives trading exchange that pioneered perpetual futures, has failed to sell itself after a two-year process, people familiar with the matter said.

The parent company, HDR Global Trading, decided to wind down operations after potential acquirers walked away. Investment bank Broadhaven advised on the sale, which reportedly targeted a valuation near $1 billion.

Discussions involved rival exchanges and the payments and wallet firm Exodus. None of the talks produced a completed transaction.

Sources indicated that buyers grew uneasy over the continued majority equity control held by co-founders Arthur Hayes and Ben Delo. Although the two had stepped away from day-to-day management after US criminal charges related to anti-money laundering compliance in 2020, their substantial ownership remained intact. That structure complicated negotiations. Acquirers typically prefer arrangements that allow them to retain and incentivize key personnel through portions of the purchase price, rather than navigating significant founder influence post-deal.

Compounding the ownership issue was BitMEX's deteriorating market position. Throughout the sale process, trading activity continued migrating to larger centralized platforms such as Binance and Bybit, as well as emerging decentralized perpetual futures venues. Market share eroded sharply from the double-digit percentages the exchange once enjoyed to fractions of a percent in recent periods. Daily volumes in some segments fell to levels that made growth-oriented revenue multiples difficult to justify.