BitMEX to end services Sept. 23; trading reduce-only Aug. 26

BitMEX will end exchange services at 04:00 UTC on Sept. 23, 2026. Trading will switch to reduce-only at 04:00 UTC on Aug. 26, and the platform may force-close open contracts during the wind-down. Any positions still open at the Sept. 23 cutoff will be closed immediately.

The Seychelles-based exchange, founded by Arthur Hayes, has stopped new user registrations and published a wind-down timetable that imposes risk limits beginning Aug. 26. Reduce-only status permits users to reduce existing positions but not to open new ones. The notice does not include a mechanism to transfer open positions to other venues, so maintaining exposure after the wind-down would require opening new contracts elsewhere.

Customers will retain access to view balances and account records after services end and can submit withdrawal requests. BitMEX warned that additional account reviews and blockchain processing limits could delay transfers and that no priority service will be provided. Accounts that remain KYC-verified and hold assets after the shutdown will be charged a monthly fee equal to the greater of a $50 equivalent or an annualized 1% rate applied to the remaining balance.

A same-day market snapshot showed BitMEX with about $120.84 million in 24-hour volume and roughly $705.33 million in open interest. By comparison, a top derivatives platform registered about $45.68 billion in 24-hour volume and $25.10 billion in open interest in the same snapshot. Large centralized venues that control a majority share of derivatives trading are likely recipients of flows from BitMEX users; some on-chain perpetual platforms have reported substantial volumes and open interest as alternative destinations.

BitMEX’s 24-hour turnover represented roughly 0.26% of the larger platform’s throughput in the snapshot. The exchange’s timeline makes Aug. 26 the effective cutoff for position reduction and sets a hard service termination on Sept. 23, giving customers a fixed window to close positions and withdraw funds.