BitMart Begins Orderly Wind-Down of Trading Platform; BMX Plunges About 58%

BitMart said Sunday it has begun an “orderly wind-down” of its trading platform operations, immediately cutting off new registrations and deposits and setting an Aug. 26 deadline for customers to close positions before trading services are shut down. The exchange’s in-house BMX token also plunged after the announcement, falling about 58% in 24 hours.

In a July 26 support notice titled “Important Notice Regarding the Orderly Cessation of BitMart Operations,” the centralized cryptocurrency exchange said the decision followed “a careful evaluation of the Company's operating conditions, market environment, and future strategic direction.” For users, the immediate impact was operational: futures accounts were switched to reduce-only mode, meaning traders can only shrink or close positions, while spot trading stopped accepting new orders. BitMart also said copy trading, grid trading, API access and other automated services would be gradually discontinued, and told users to cancel open orders themselves or the system would do it automatically.

BitMart said the first restrictions took effect July 26 at 01:30 UTC, when it suspended new user registrations, crypto deposits and fiat deposits. It said all spot, futures and other trading services will be discontinued starting Aug. 26 at 01:00 UTC. The company urged customers to complete identity verification, close all positions before that 01:00 UTC deadline and submit withdrawal requests before 05:00 UTC on Aug. 26. Withdrawals remain available after the announcement, BitMart said, but processing may be delayed and some requests could face manual review and compliance checks, including know-your-customer verification, Travel Rule checks, sanctions screening and source-of-funds reviews.

BitMart said it plans to officially cease trading platform operations at 15:59 UTC on Jan. 31, 2027. After that date, users would still be able to log in for a specified period to access records and submit withdrawal requests under procedures that will be announced later. The company also said products beyond trading, including Earn, Staking, Lending and Launchpad, will be discontinued in phases, with separate redemption or settlement instructions to come.

The shutdown notice was followed by a sharp sell-off in BMX. BitMart’s own price page showed the token at $0.080, down 57.95% over 24 hours, while CoinGecko showed BMX at $0.08078, down 57.50% over the same period. Taken together, the token was down about 58% in 24 hours.

BitMart also issued a fraud warning tied to the wind-down, saying it would not ask users through Telegram, WhatsApp, WeChat or private social media accounts to pay “expedited processing” or “account unfreezing” fees, and would never request passwords, verification codes, private keys or recovery phrases.

Founded in 2017, BitMart is a centralized crypto exchange that previously drew attention after a major hot-wallet hack in December 2021 that industry reporting estimated at roughly $150 million to $200 million. It later faced U.S. regulatory scrutiny, including a Federal Trade Commission crypto probe opened in 2022. In Sunday’s notice, BitMart gave only a broad explanation for the shutdown and did not provide more detailed reasons.