BitMart said on July 26 that it is starting an “orderly cessation of operations,” setting out a timeline that stops new user registrations and all deposits immediately, ends trading on Aug. 26, and leads to a formal shutdown on Jan. 31, 2027.
In its official notice, the exchange said it had made the “difficult decision” to wind down the trading platform after what it described as a careful assessment. From July 26, new account registrations are closed and both crypto and fiat deposits are suspended. Futures trading is restricted to position reductions only.
Withdrawal and shutdown schedule
BitMart strongly urged users to complete verification and close positions before 01:00 UTC on Aug. 26, and to submit withdrawal requests before 05:00 UTC the same day.
- From July 26: new user registration ends, and crypto and fiat deposits are suspended
- From July 26: futures can only be reduced, spot stops accepting new orders, and copy trading, grid trading, and API-based automated trading are phased out
- From Aug. 26: all spot, futures, and other trading stops, and any open positions will be settled by the platform at the marked price
- Earn, Staking, Lending, and Launchpad products will be removed in stages under their own separate schedules
- Jan. 31, 2027: operations end formally, though users will still be able to log in afterward to check records and request withdrawals
The notice said a withdrawal submission does not mean approval has been completed. Processing times may be extended by a high volume of requests, the need for extra documents, or compliance reviews. Those reviews may cover KYC, source of funds, and Travel Rule sanctions screening. Users who miss the withdrawal deadline may be moved into what the exchange called a “special handling procedure.”
BitMart also warned users that it will not contact them privately to ask for acceleration fees or security deposits, and that there is no paid priority withdrawal channel on the platform.
Moves in the 72 hours before the announcement
The shutdown notice followed a series of measures released over the previous three days. On July 23, BitMart told identified U.S. users to close positions and withdraw assets before Aug. 8. On July 24, it announced custody fees for dormant accounts, saying accounts left inactive for two years would face monthly charges, with a maximum monthly fee rate of 2%. On the same day, the platform’s AMM market-making bot was stopped. On July 25, BitMart removed spot margin and told users to repay borrowings and close positions the next day.
A reversal from its stance two months ago
The timing stands out. On May 23, BitMart responded to rumors that users were unable to withdraw funds, saying the restrictions were tied to risk controls aimed at a “malicious wash trading group” that had used 239 linked accounts for arbitrage. At the time, the exchange said operations were normal and stable, and promised that proof of reserves, or PoR, would be released at an appropriate time.
That PoR had still not appeared by the time the shutdown announcement was published.
The report said one market claim circulating at the time put BitMart’s PoR at about $169 million, with much of it made up of low-liquidity tokens such as SISC and TBC, along with the exchange token BMX. According to that claim, the platform’s USDT reserves available for withdrawals were only about $650,000. Those figures were not officially confirmed, but they had already raised questions in the market over whether BitMart could meet withdrawals on demand.
The timeline includes two more details noted in the report. BitMart announced on June 25 that it had obtained an Australian Financial Services Licence, or AFSL. Then on July 15, it published a first-half report referring to “resilience” and “discipline.” The shutdown notice came 11 days later.
Founded in 2017, hit by a hack in 2021
BitMart was founded in August 2017 by Sheldon Xia. In December 2021, the exchange suffered a hot wallet private key compromise and lost about $196 million. According to CoinDesk’s reporting at the time, BitMart initially described the incident as “fake news” before Sheldon Xia later acknowledged the hack and said users would be compensated with the company’s own funds.
BitMEX also announced a shutdown this week
BitMart was not the only older exchange to announce an exit this week. On July 23, derivatives exchange BitMEX said in an official post on X that it would permanently close on Sept. 23 after 11 years in operation. BitMEX was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes and others, and was known for introducing 100x leveraged perpetual contracts. The report said its average daily trading volume is now about $400,000, with market share below 0.01%, and that it has also introduced custody fees.
BlockTempo said some analysts viewed the same-week departures of BitMart and BitMEX as a sign that industry consolidation is accelerating, with liquidity concentrating on larger venues such as Binance, Coinbase, and OKX, as well as on-chain trading. The report added that the fee model used by second-tier centralized exchanges has become harder to sustain under rising compliance costs.
For users who still hold assets on BitMart, the report urged them to complete verification and submit withdrawals as soon as possible rather than waiting until the final hours before Aug. 26. BitMart has said there is no paid fast-track withdrawal service, and any private message asking for an “unfreezing fee” should be treated as a scam.