BitMart Joins the Exits: Nine-Year Exchange Calls It Quits, BMX Drops the Other 58% 😬

Cryptocurrency exchange BitMart said Sunday it will wind down its trading platform after nine years, halting all spot and derivatives trading by Aug. 26 and formally ceasing operations on Jan. 31, 2027. The exchange stopped accepting new registrations, deposits and new trading orders from 01:30 UTC on Sunday, and moved futures accounts to reduce-only mode. Withdrawals will remain available throughout the shutdown.

The shutdown follows BitMart's "careful evaluation of the Company's operating conditions, market environment, and future strategic direction," the company said in its announcement. It gave no further detail on which of those factors triggered the closure. BitMart warned users that some withdrawal requests could face additional identity, device, sanctions and source-of-funds reviews that may delay processing.

BitMart's native token, $BMX, fell to about $0.057 after the announcement, down roughly 58–81% depending on the measurement window, cutting its market capitalization to between $19.6 million and $27 million. The token had already declined roughly 70% over the prior year before Sunday's announcement extended the slide. $BMX traded near $0.09464 at one point during the session, down from about $0.31 late Friday, according to CoinGecko data.

User complaints surfaced on X about delayed withdrawals, with some users reporting that Tether ($USDT) withdrawal requests remained pending for hours. Arkham data showed wallets attributed to BitMart held about $71 million in crypto assets on Sunday, down from roughly $102 million on July 6. Of that, about $41.5 million sat in stablecoin banking platform WeFi's ($WFI) tokens, while tracked BitMart wallets held roughly $91,000 in $USDT. The exchange recently reported about $1.6 billion in 24-hour trading volume, up 51% from a month earlier.

Former CEO Nenter Chow said in an X post on Sunday that he was informed Friday that his employment was being terminated, that he was no longer involved in management or decision-making, and that he was not consulted about the wind-down, learning of it only after the public announcement. On-chain records also noted confusion on X between BitMart and its $BMX token and separate exchange BitMEX, which said Thursday it would shut down after 11 years.

BitMart also carries the weight of a December 2021 hot-wallet breach that cost the platform about $196 million, one of the larger exchange hacks of that cycle. BitMart said at the time it would cover customer losses. The closure extends a week that has now seen two major exchange exits, and Roshan Dharia, CEO of investment firm Echo Base, told Decrypt that "We are entering a period of significant consolidation in digital assets," with survivors being those that "recognize the pressure early, act decisively, and secure the right capital and strategic support before their options narrow." BitMart did not respond to requests for further comment.