BitMEX, founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, was once one of the most influential companies in crypto trading and a leading venue in the derivatives market.
The exchange rose quickly after introducing 100x leveraged perpetual contracts. It later became the world’s largest crypto derivatives platform for a period, with daily trading volume peaking at tens of billions of dollars. That product helped shape the perpetual futures market, but BitMEX’s high-leverage model, offshore operations and loose KYC/AML policies also kept it under regulatory pressure for years.
A defining moment during the March 2020 crash
At 6:30 p.m. on March 12, 2020, cryptocurrencies led by bitcoin suddenly plunged. Price screens kept flashing as bitcoin fell from $7,000 and dropped nearly 50% within 24 hours.
On the morning of March 13, BitMEX, then the platform with the largest short interest, suspended trading functions in a move traders later referred to as “pulling the plug.” In the source account, that step was described as having, from one angle, “saved bitcoin.” During the disorderly sell-off, there were no buy orders left on BitMEX. Without the halt, bitcoin’s price on the platform would have fallen to zero. Other exchanges were also in chaos at the time, while arbitrage bots had moved beyond their operating range, and bitcoin price gaps between platforms reached as much as $1,000.
U.S. charges and Hayes’ surrender
In 2020, the U.S. Department of Justice and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or CFTC, charged Hayes and other co-founders, accusing them of violating the Bank Secrecy Act, failing to establish an effective anti-money laundering system and illegally providing services to U.S. users.
On April 7, 2021, former BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes surrendered to U.S. authorities in Hawaii. He appeared before a federal judge there, was released on $10 million bail, and left the United States after completing a six-month period of home confinement.
KYC overhaul failed to stop market share erosion
BitMEX later completed a full KYC overhaul. Its founding team then stepped down or pleaded guilty, while the exchange kept losing ground as Binance, Bybit and OKX expanded. Its position as an industry leader was gradually replaced.
In early 2025, sources said BitMEX was exploring a possible sale and had hired investment bank Broadhaven Capital Partners at the end of 2024 to assist with the process.
Platform to close in September 2026
In 2026, BitMEX announced that it will formally shut its trading platform on Sept. 23, ending a 12-year operating history.
As an early pioneer of perpetual contracts, BitMEX helped push crypto derivatives into a period of rapid growth. Its rise and fall also mirror the industry’s path from a regulatory vacuum to a compliance-focused era.