BitMEX to shut down after 11 years, BMEX token down 92%

Founded in 2014, BitMEX created the perpetual swap contract – a derivatives instrument with no expiry date that let traders take positions with up to 100x leverage. Every major exchange, from Binance to Bybit to OKX, later adopted similar instruments.

The exchange's regulatory troubles accelerated in 2020 when U.S. authorities charged co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed with violating the Bank Secrecy Act by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. All three eventually entered guilty pleas and received presidential pardons in 2025.

Traders with open positions have until September 23 to unwind trades and move funds. The two-month window is longer than some previous crypto exchange closures, where users sometimes had days or hours to react.

BitMEX's 11-year run ends not with a collapse but with a strategic review a fraction of the volume it once commanded.