Crypto exchange CoinEx will cease operations after nine years, citing a prolonged market downturn, declining industry trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory and compliance costs.
The exchange announced Tuesday that it would immediately begin an orderly wind-down, with all operations scheduled to end on Dec. 22, 2026—exactly nine years after CoinEx launched.
CoinEx said new user registrations would stop on September 15, while services will be phased out over the following weeks. Withdrawals will remain available until the final closure date.
“After prudent evaluation, and in light of the prolonged downturn in the cryptocurrency market, the significant contraction in overall industry trading volume and liquidity, and the continuously rising regulatory requirements across major jurisdictions, as well as compliance costs and operational uncertainties that have exceeded reasonable boundaries, CoinEx has decided to cease operations and enter into an orderly cessation process,” the exchange said in its official announcement.
CoinEx founder and CEO Haipo Yang said the decision followed a broader assessment of the economics and risks of running a centralized exchange.
“CoinEx did not become one of the industry’s leading exchanges, and the security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain,” Yang said in a statement posted on X Tuesday. “Revenues can decline, responsibility does not. Carrying unlimited risk for limited revenue is no longer a rational choice.”
Dear CoinEx Community,
Today, I am announcing that CoinEx will cease operations and begin an orderly wind-down.
First, what matters most: your assets are safe. CoinEx’s reserve ratio exceeds 100%, and every user asset is fully backed and available for withdrawal. Withdrawals…
— Haipo Yang (@yhaiyang) September 15, 2026
Yang said he considered selling the exchange but ultimately rejected the option, arguing that users had entrusted their assets to CoinEx based partly on their trust in him personally.
“I did seriously consider selling CoinEx. Ultimately, I decided against it,” he said. “I did not feel that handing the platform and that trust to a new owner was the right way to end this journey. A clean ending is the right ending.”
CoinEx has also faced regulatory pressure in key markets. In June 2023, New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement requiring the exchange to refund more than $1.1 million to New York investors and pay more than $600,000 in penalties. CoinEx was also barred from offering or selling securities and commodities in New York and prohibited from making its platform available in the state. The company subsequently announced its withdrawal from the U.S. market.
CoinEx Sets December Withdrawal Deadline
CoinEx said its reserve ratio exceeds 100% and that all user assets are fully backed and available for withdrawal.
Futures contracts entered reduce-only mode on Tuesday, while new orders for fiat, margin, loans, Earn, staking and strategic trading services were halted.
The remaining services will close in stages:
- Sept. 22: All non-spot services end.
- Sept. 29: Spot trading ends, along with CoinEx Smart Chain (CSC) and the OneSwap decentralized exchange.
- Dec. 22: The exchange closes and the withdrawal period ends.
CoinEx said some withdrawals could take longer to process while funds are moved between cold and hot wallets, but that withdrawal requests submitted during the withdrawal period will be honored.
The exchange will also buy back all remaining CoinEx Token (CET) at 0.005 USDT per token, with no limit on the quantity eligible for the buyback. Yang described the measure as a way to bring the token’s nine-year history to a “responsible conclusion.”
CoinEx said assets left on the platform after the withdrawal deadline will be subject to additional arrangements. Unwithdrawn USDT will be transferred to independent custody and charged a monthly fee equivalent to 5% of the recorded balance. Claims can be filed through Aug. 22, 2028.
CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault are separate from the exchange and will continue operating, according to the company.
Another One Bites the Dust
The shutdown makes CoinEx the latest established crypto platform to exit the market in 2026, following closures and wind-downs affecting exchanges, wallets, DeFi protocols and NFT platforms.
AscendEX ceased operations on July 1, citing regulatory, financial and operational factors, including the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA). The exchange said it did not hold the authorization required under MiCA, while a separate recapitalization transaction also failed, leaving the platform without the resources it had expected to continue operations.
BitMEX is also preparing to shut down its exchange on Sept. 23, ending more than 11 years of operations. Its owner, HDR Global Trading, attributed the decision to a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry.
The exits come despite crypto markets remaining substantially larger than during previous downturns. For exchanges, however, falling trading activity can put direct pressure on revenue while regulatory requirements increase the cost of maintaining operations across multiple jurisdictions.
For CoinEx, the decision marks the end of a nine-year run without a bankruptcy announcement, though the exchange fell victim to a September 2023 hot-wallet hack of $70 million that it pledged to cover in full.
“We may not have won the race, but we are finishing with honor,” added Yang.