BitMart, a nine-year-old global cryptocurrency exchange founded in 2017, announced on May 26 (local time) via its official website that it will cease operations, with trading halting on August 26 and final platform closure scheduled for January 31 at 3:59 PM. The decision follows worsening profitability and mounting regulatory costs that the mid-sized exchange could not overcome. The closure is part of an accelerating wave of global crypto exchange shutdowns, including the decentralized perpetual futures exchange Dango (announced May 24, trading stops May 29, network shutdown June 13) and the 11-year-old BitMEX, driven by liquidity concentration in top-tier platforms and heightened regulatory enforcement including the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework.
BitMart Announces Phased Shutdown Timeline Through January 31
BitMart stated in its May 26 homepage notice: "After carefully reviewing the company's operating conditions, market environment, and future strategic direction, we have made the difficult decision to orderly terminate trading platform operations." According to the published schedule, new user registrations and deposit services were suspended starting 1:30 AM UTC on May 26. At the same time, futures accounts were blocked from opening new positions and spot markets stopped accepting new orders. Automated trading services including copy trading, grid trading, and API trading were sequentially terminated. All trading services — spot and futures — will completely halt at 1:00 AM on August 26. Any remaining futures positions at that time may be forcibly liquidated by the platform according to the applicable reference price and settlement rules. Users can continue to log in for a period after that date to view transaction history and request withdrawals. BitMart will officially terminate platform operations on January 31 at 3:59 PM. The exchange clarified that a withdrawal request submission does not mean the review is complete or that assets have been transmitted to the blockchain.
BitMart Token (BMX) Plunges 82% Following Closure Announcement
The closure decision came immediately after BitMart's native ecosystem token, BitMart Token (BMX), experienced a sharp price collapse and user complaints about withdrawal delays spread. BMX fell from around 0.31 USD late on May 25 (local time) to as low as 0.1058 USD on May 26, then continued declining to 0.09464 USD — a roughly 70% evaporation in one day. Following the exchange closure announcement, BMX price dropped further. According to cryptocurrency market data site CoinMarketCap, BMX plummeted 82.05% in just one week to 0.05633 USD due to the trading halt announcement. BMX's market capitalization also collapsed by over 65% to approximately 18.26 million USD (about 25.3 billion KRW). On-chain data analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reported that BitMart-related wallet holdings decreased from approximately 102 million USD on May 6 to about 71 million USD as of May 26. Of this amount, roughly 41.5 million USD was in WFI tokens from stablecoin banking platform WeFi, while actual Tether (USDT) holdings were only about 91,000 USD.
Dango and BitMEX Join Global Exchange Closure Wave
BitMart's closure aligns with a months-long trend of small and mid-sized cryptocurrency exchange and DEX shutdowns. Layer-1 blockchain-based perpetual futures DEX Dango announced via its X account on May 24: "We tried our best but could not find a path to sustainable commercial success," stating that trading will stop on May 29 and the network will completely shut down on June 13. Dango founder Larry Liu cited funding difficulties, legal issues including lawsuits, core personnel departures, and deteriorating market conditions as reasons. BitMEX, which pioneered perpetual futures derivatives trading over its 11-year history, also announced its business closure this month. Analysts note that the top five exchanges account for approximately 80% of global spot trading volume, squeezing margins for small and mid-sized and regional exchanges. Additionally, global exchange EXMO.com is undergoing liquidation procedures while cooperating with authorities after the UK government added the company to its Russia-related sanctions list as part of efforts to block sanctions evasion. Multiple DeFi projects including Odos and Satori Finance have also recently announced operational suspensions. Experts view the primary cause of the serial closures as the intensification of a "rich get richer, poor get poorer" phenomenon, where trading volume and liquidity concentrate exclusively in a few top-tier large exchanges like Binance, while regulatory intensity has escalated to record levels with measures such as the full implementation of the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) law. Small and new exchanges unable to bear massive security maintenance costs and regulatory compliance expenses are hitting profitability limits and being forced into voluntary liquidation or forced exit.
FAQ
What did BitMart announce on May 26?
BitMart announced on May 26 (local time) via its official website that it will cease trading platform operations, with all trading services halting on August 26 and final platform closure on January 31 at 3:59 PM, citing worsening profitability and mounting regulatory costs.
How much did BitMart Token (BMX) fall after the closure announcement?
BMX fell approximately 70% in one day from around 0.31 USD on May 25 to 0.09464 USD on May 26, and dropped 82.05% over one week to 0.05633 USD following the exchange closure announcement, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Which other exchanges announced closures recently?
Dango announced on May 24 that it will stop trading on May 29 and shut down its network on June 13, while BitMEX, an 11-year-old exchange that pioneered perpetual futures trading, also announced its business closure this month.
