CoinEx to Shut Down After Nine Years, Sets December Withdrawal Deadline

A long-running crypto exchange is calling it quits. CoinEx said on its official announcements page that it will wind down operations after nearly nine years, pointing to a prolonged crypto-market downturn, shrinking trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory and compliance costs across major jurisdictions. The platform, which launched in December 2017 and grew into a global venue supporting spot, futures, staking and lending, is moving on a compressed schedule: new user registration stops and perpetual futures shift to reduce-only mode on September 15, making it one of the more prominent exchange exits in recent months. The closure will unfold in stages over roughly three months, leaving users a window to move their funds.

The Shutdown Timeline

CoinEx set out a phased exit for its users. After the September 15 registration freeze, futures, staking, lending and other non-spot services end on September 22, and all spot trading halts on September 29. The reduce-only rule means traders can close but not open new futures positions. Withdrawals remain open through December 22, after which the platform closes entirely. Users holding balances have until that final date to move funds off the exchange. The exchange framed the decision as a response to market conditions rather than a security incident, and it urged users to withdraw or transfer their funds before each deadline passes.

Why CoinEx Is Closing

The announcement attributes the closure to shrinking revenue and rising compliance costs. The exchange had long operated as a low-fee venue spanning spot and derivatives trading before the downturn eroded its economics. CoinEx, which earlier expanded its Web3 support with a Sui network integration, has faced mounting regulatory scrutiny over the past year. A June Wall Street Journal report said Iran-linked entities moved more than $3.84 billion through the exchange, an allegation CoinEx denied at the time. With trading volumes thinning across the sector, the company concluded the exchange business was no longer sustainable.

User Assets and the ViaBTC Mining Pool

CoinEx said its reserve ratio exceeds 100%, with all user assets fully backed by reserves and available for withdrawal at any point during the wind-down. The shutdown does not touch ViaBTC, one of the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pools, which earlier unveiled an enhanced collateralized loan service for miners. The two businesses will keep operating independently as the exchange proceeds with its orderly closure.