BitMEX Shuts Down After 11 Years, Ending Era of 100x Leverage Perps

BitMEX also warned users to watch for phishing attempts exploiting the closure news, noting that no expedited or priority withdrawal service exists.

The company confirmed its assets exceed liabilities, as stated on its Proof of Reserves and Liabilities page. BitMEX has unstaked all previously staked BMEX tokens, making them immediately available in holders' accounts.

BitMEX launched in 2014 and invented the 100x leverage perpetual swap, now the most widely traded product structure in crypto. The product was copied across thousands of platforms globally. The company pointed to its security record as a defining achievement, noting that BitMEX never lost user funds to a hack across its entire 11-year operating history. That outcome, it said, set it apart from many competitors in a space where exchange hacks have cost users billions of dollars.

The closure marks the end of an era for a platform that helped define crypto derivatives trading, even as regulatory scrutiny and shifting market dynamics reshaped the industry around it.