End clap for a historic actor. BitMEX, the platform that popularized perpetual swap and long dominated crypto derivativeswill cease trading activities on September 23, 2026 at 4 a.m. UTC. New registrations are already suspended and users are advised to close their positions and withdraw their funds. Founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, the exchange is disappearing far from the heights it occupied at the end of the years
The key points of this article:BitMEX, former crypto derivatives giant, will cease operations on September 23, 2026.
The closure of BitMEX was decided after a strategic review by HDR Global Trading, with no buyer or merger announced.
BitMEX schedules its closure in two stages
The decision was made by HDR Global Trading, owner and operator of BitMEXfollowing a “strategic review of the business and the broader industry”. The company has not announced is the resumption of fusion. Trading will continue as normal until August 26 at 4 a.m. UTC. From this date, the platform will switch to “reduce-only” mode: users will be able to reduce or close their existing positions, but will no longer be able to open new ones or increase their exposure. BitMEX will then proceed to gradual closure positions still active. All those that remain on September 23 will be automatically closed. After trading stops, users will still be able to log in to view their balance and withdraw their assets. Customers who have completed their identity verification but leave funds on the platform will, however, be exposed to costs equivalent to $50 per month or 1% of balance per year, whichever is greater. BitMEX also claims to have gone through more than eleven years of activity without losing its users’ funds during a hack.
BitMEX announces the cessation of its services as of September 23 – Source: Account
The inventor of “perps” overtaken by his heirs
To measure what is disappearing, we must go back to May 13, 2016. BitMEX lance alors XBTUSDbilled as the first leveraged Bitcoin perpetual swap. This contract allows you to speculate on the price of bitcoin without an expiration date, with a leverage of up to 100 and a financing mechanism keeping its price close to the spot market. The product becomes the favorite instrument of crypto traders and propels BitMEX among the largest global derivatives platforms. Its model was then taken up by Binance, Bybit, OKX and, more recently, by decentralized platforms like Hyperliquid. According to CryptoQuant cited by the specialized press, global volumes of perpetual contracts have reached 61.7 trillion dollars in 2025. The history of BitMEX has also been marked by American prosecutions. The three founders pleaded guilty in 2022 to failing to implement a compliant anti-money laundering program. HDR Global Trading pleaded guilty in July 2024, before being sentenced in January 2025 to a $100 million fine and two years of probation. Donald Trump finally pardoned the three historic founders in March 2025. BitMEX therefore dies out at a time when its invention reigns more than ever. Overtaken by centralized giants then by newcomers to DeFithe platform will leave the market on September 23. The perpetual swap will largely survive.