Crypto exchange CoinEx has announced it will cease operations and enter an orderly wind-down process after 9 years of business. The platform halted new user registrations on Tuesday and will phase out its services over the coming months.
CoinEx attributed the closure to a prolonged cryptocurrency market downturn, significant contraction in overall industry trading volume and liquidity, and continuously rising regulatory requirements and compliance costs across major jurisdictions that have exceeded reasonable boundaries.
Timeline for Service Closures
The exchange has set specific dates for shutting down different services:
- Futures contracts entered reduce-only mode on Tuesday
- Fiat, margin, loans, Earn, staking, and strategic trading stopped accepting new orders on Tuesday
- All non-spot services end on September 22
- Spot trading closes on September 29, along with CoinEx Smart Chain (CSC) and the decentralized exchange OneSwap
- Withdrawals remain open until December 22
User Protections and Buyback
CoinEx stated that its reserve ratio exceeds 100%, with all user balances fully backed. The exchange will repurchase every remaining CoinEx Token (CET) at 0.005 USDT with no quantity cap.
Users who do not withdraw funds by December 22 will have their unwithdrawn USDT moved into independent custody. These balances will accrue a monthly fee equivalent to 5% of the recorded balance. Claims can be filed until August 22, 2028.
Broader Market Pressures
CoinEx's closure adds to a series of crypto industry shutdowns in 2026 affecting wallets, DeFi protocols, and NFT platforms. The exchange previously retreated from the United States in 2023 following a settlement with New York Attorney General Letitia James, which returned more than $1.1 million to New York investors and resulted in over $600,000 in state penalties.
Other major exchanges have cited similar regulatory and operational pressures. AscendEX stopped operating on July 1 due to lack of authorization under the European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) and a failed liquidity deal. BitMEX announced its closure for September 23, ending an 11-year run after a strategic review.
CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault operate independently and will remain available.
