Hyperliquid has cumulatively burned 47.27 million HYPE tokens, accounting for 4.73% of its maximum supply.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, Hyperliquid generated approximately $1.4 million in fees over the past 24 hours, burning 20,640 HYPE tokens valued at around $1.2 million. To date, Hyperliquid has cumulatively burned 47.27 million HYPE tokens, worth roughly $2.76 billion, accounting for 4.73% of its maximum total supply of 1 billion HYPE.
19 minutes ago
Chairman of SK Group: South Korea Needs to Transform into an "AI-Native" Country
SK Group Chairman Choi Tae-won stated that South Korea must become an "AI-native country," adding, "The goal is to ensure every person has at least one AI agent." He noted that if this goal is achieved, South Korea will become a global AI testbed where various AI technologies can be tested and deployed. Choi added that SK Group will provide more opportunities for AI development through continuous R&D investment. He also emphasized that reducing AI costs is critical, saying, "Currently, AI costs are too high. We must cut costs through various means so that more people around the world can benefit from AI." Choi further stated that South Korea can lower AI costs by expanding its memory chip production capacity and building more AI data centers, while establishing a global AI data center hub connecting the U.S., Europe, and Asia. (Source: Jinshi)
19 minutes ago
Prominent Trader: Bitcoin’s supply held by long-term holders in loss has exceeded levels recorded during the FTX collapse
Renowned trader Killa posted that roughly 80% of cycle top indicators never triggered during the last Bitcoin bull run, and a similar situation could occur with bottom indicators in the future, meaning market bottoms cannot be judged by mechanically relying on historical signals. He noted that the supply of long-term holders currently in a loss state has exceeded levels seen during the FTX collapse and is approaching those of the 2018 bear market. Bitcoin’s realized price is currently around $50,000; in every past cycle, the price has tested the realized price of long-term holders, so a return to this region remains possible. However, Killa said it should not be assumed that Bitcoin will definitely drop back to this level. Many top indicators failed to trigger in the last cycle, and some bottom indicators may also become invalid in the future. Regardless, the current level of market loss is already comparable to that during the FTX incident and the 2018 bear market.
19 minutes ago
Poll: Democrats have a chance to flip the House, Republicans face pressure.
The latest Emerson College poll shows that Democrats hold an 11-point lead over Republicans in midterm election preferences, with 53% to 42%—marking the Democrats’ largest lead in the poll series. Meanwhile, former President Donald Trump’s approval rating stands at 39%, while his disapproval rating is 57%. The poll indicates that the Democrats’ advantage stems largely from female voters, among whom they lead Republicans by 27 points. Newsweek, analyzing via its Uniform Swing Model, stated that if this national advantage translates evenly to House districts, roughly 36 Republican-held seats could flip to Democrats, resulting in a hypothetical 251-184 seat split favoring the Democrats. However, the article emphasizes that this is only a model stress test based on national polls, not an election prediction, and the actual outcome will still be influenced by factors such as candidate performance, local issues, voter turnout, and district mapping. (Jinshi)
19 minutes ago
CZ: Long-term investors can adopt the dollar-cost averaging strategy to buy in batches.
In a post addressing the question of when the best entry point is for long-term holders during bull or bear markets, CZ stated that investors should adopt the dollar-cost averaging (DCA) strategy. DCA is a strategy of continuously buying the same asset at fixed intervals with a fixed amount each time, which smooths costs by diversifying entry timings and reduces the risk of buying at a high point in a single transaction, though it does not guarantee profits.
19 minutes ago
Lee Jae-myung strongly invites U.S. capital to invest in South Korea's tech sector.
According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung stated that South Korea and the U.S. should expand their cooperation beyond their long-standing security alliance, covering also sectors of technology, innovation, and startups. He emphasized that combining the U.S.’s world-class venture capital capabilities and global networks with South Korea’s advanced technological strength and manufacturing competitiveness will foster a new batch of global innovative enterprises. Lee also called on U.S. venture capital firms to step up cooperation and expand investments in South Korea, while pledging to build one of the world’s most attractive investment and startup ecosystems. He noted that South Korea will reform its visa system to better attract overseas entrepreneurial talent, and lay the groundwork for establishing a cooperation framework between domestic and foreign enterprises, research institutions, and investors. He also committed to helping South Korean startups grow into globally competitive firms by connecting privately and publicly managed funds.
Layer-1 blockchain Dango will wind down operations by halting trading on its perpetual decentralized exchange (DEX) on Wednesday and shutting down its network on Aug. 13.
“Despite our best effort, various reasons have led us to conclude there is no viable path to a lasting commercial success,” Dango said in a Friday X announcement.
Dango founder Larry Liu added that the team faced cash shortages, legal challenges that slowed momentum, the loss of team members, and broader market conditions.
Dango launched its mainnet in January after raising $3.6 million in a 2024 seed round led by Hack VC and Lemniscap. It rolled out its perpetual DEX in April, only to suffer a roughly $410,000 exploit days after launch. The attacker later returned the funds in exchange for a bug bounty.
Dango’s open interest dwarfed by Hyperliquid, AsterAccording to DefiLlama, Dango’s total value locked fell from a peak of roughly $4.5 million in early May to about $1.6 million before the announcement.
The perp DEX market is increasingly competitive and dominated by a handful of platforms.
Hyperliquid held more than $11 billion in open interest on Saturday, which represents the value of outstanding perpetual futures contracts that haven’t been closed.
Perp DEX ranking by open interest. Source: DefiLlama
Only Aster and Variational also hold more than $1 billion in open interest. Dango held just under $391,000 in open interest.
CoinGecko said in its second quarter industry report that Hyperliquid became the second-largest perpetual exchange by open interest on July 1, behind only Binance.
A summer of crypto shutdownsDango’s shutdown adds to a growing list of crypto platform closures in July, including 11-year-old perpetual futures pioneer BitMEX.
Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph that BitMEX’s shutdown reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, where liquidity has increasingly concentrated among the industry’s largest players and regulatory compliance costs continue to rise.
“The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale,” Dharia said.
Other recent closures include DEX aggregator Odos Protocol and perp DEX Satori Finance.
Magazine: A quantum roadmap would push Bitcoin much higher: Charles Edwards
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
BitMEX is facing a proposed class action in the Southern District of New York seeking the return of 622.66 BTC over alleged forced liquidations and platform misconduct.
The complaint was filed on July 23, 2026, by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar against HDR Global Trading Limited, Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo, Samuel Reed, and Gregory Dwyer, according to public court-monitoring records and related reports. The case is listed under No. 1:26-cv-06259.
The allegations are serious.
The plaintiffs claim BitMEX operated an internal trading desk that had access to customer data and traded against users, while platform freezes allegedly contributed to forced liquidations. The claim seeks the return of more than 622 BTC, valued at roughly $40.7 million.
The important caveat is equally serious: these are allegations at the complaint stage. Wrongdoing has not been proven.
TL;DR BitMEX faces a proposed class action seeking the return of 622.66 BTC. Plaintiffs allege forced liquidations, platform freezes, and improper internal trading activity. The case is at the complaint stage, and the allegations have not been proven. Why The Case Matters BitMEX is one of the most important names in crypto derivatives history.
Before perpetual futures became a standard part of the crypto trading landscape, BitMEX helped popularize high-leverage Bitcoin derivatives for a global audience. It shaped trading culture, risk appetite, and the growth of offshore crypto leverage.
That history is why lawsuits involving BitMEX still attract attention.
The claims in this case go directly to issues that have followed crypto derivatives platforms for years: exchange transparency, liquidation mechanics, customer data, insurance funds, server outages, and whether platforms have incentives that conflict with users.
Those are not minor complaints. They sit at the heart of trust in leveraged trading venues.
If traders believe an exchange can freeze during volatility, see customer positioning, or benefit from liquidations, the entire market structure becomes suspect.
Again, these allegations still need to be tested in court. But the themes are familiar to anyone who traded crypto derivatives during earlier cycles.
Forced Liquidations Have Always Been A Flashpoint Liquidations are part of leveraged trading.
If a trader borrows too much exposure and the market moves against them, the position can be closed automatically to protect the platform and other participants. That is normal in derivatives markets.
The controversy begins when users believe liquidations were not fair.
Was the matching engine working properly? Were users able to close or add margin? Did the platform freeze during volatility? Did the exchange have internal desks with informational advantages? Were insurance funds managed fairly?
Those are the questions that make forced liquidation cases so emotional.
A trader losing money in a fair liquidation is one thing. A trader believing the platform’s own systems made it impossible to manage risk is another.
The BitMEX complaint appears to sit in that second category.
Internal Trading Desk Allegations Raise The Stakes The claim that an internal trading desk traded against users is especially sensitive.
Crypto exchanges have faced repeated scrutiny over conflicts of interest. In traditional finance, firms are often separated by rules, disclosures, internal controls, and supervision. In crypto, especially in earlier offshore markets, the lines were often less clear.
If an exchange operates a venue, holds customer data, manages liquidations, controls the matching engine, and runs affiliated trading activity, users may worry the playing field is not level.
That is why market structure matters.
Regulated exchanges face restrictions and oversight designed to reduce conflicts. Offshore crypto venues historically operated with fewer clear boundaries. As the industry matures, those older structures are being challenged in courts and by regulators.
The BitMEX case is part of that broader reckoning.
Shutdown Timing Adds Another Layer The reports around the case also point to BitMEX’s planned termination of operations on September 23, 2026.
That timing adds pressure because users, claimants, and counterparties may want clarity before operations end. A wind-down does not automatically resolve legal exposure. It can actually make litigation and creditor questions more urgent.
If users believe assets or claims remain unresolved, they may try to preserve rights before the platform disappears from normal operation.
That is why old exchange disputes can resurface late.
Even when a platform is no longer central to daily trading, its past conduct can remain the subject of claims, especially when large BTC amounts are involved.
Allegations Are Not Findings It is important to keep the legal framing precise.
The plaintiffs have made allegations. The defendants may contest them. The court has not proven wrongdoing. The claim amount, alleged conduct, and case narrative still need to move through legal process.
Crypto coverage often turns complaints into conclusions too quickly. That is risky and unfair.
The correct approach is to report what the complaint alleges, what amount is being sought, who is named, and where the case stands. Anything beyond that needs evidence.
For now, the case is another example of how early crypto market structure disputes continue to echo years later.
BitMEX helped define the offshore derivatives era. Now, claims tied to that era are being tested inside traditional courts.
That contrast says a lot about where crypto has gone: from loosely governed leverage markets to legal fights over exactly how those markets were run.
This article is based on public court-monitoring records and related legal reporting on the proposed BitMEX class action.
This article was written by the News Desk and edited by Samuel Rae.
BTC has dropped by roughly three grand after marking a local peak at $67,000. Strategy doesn't want to buy or sell, while a derivatives giant says goodbye.
The previous business week ended with a leg down that drove the primary cryptocurrency to $62,500. However, it reacted swiftly and recovered to $64,000 during the weekend.
The gradual climb continued on Sunday and Monday morning when BTC peaked at $65,000, but it was rejected and slipped south by over a grand to $63,750. The next leg up was a lot more impressive. Bitcoin didn’t stop at $65,000, and even the $66,000 resistance fell on the first attempt. Thus, the asset’s rally extended for a bit more, reaching $67,000 (on some exchanges) for the first time since the middle of June.
It came on the heels of renewed ETF net inflows and new accumulations from certain large investors. However, the price run couldn’t be sustained for long, and BTC quickly dipped back down to $66,000 on Wednesday, $65,000 on Thursday, and it plunged to $64,000 earlier today.
Despite its $3,000 correction from the local top, bitcoin remains about 2% up on the week. Similar gains are evident from Ethereum, which challenged $1,950 at one point, and TRX, which remains at around $0.33. Even more impressive price performance comes from XMR; a 9% pump has driven the privacy token to over $350. UNI and HBAR have posted notable gains as well, while HYPE, ZEC, CC, and DOGE remain in the red on a weekly scale.
Bitcoin’s market dominance has also dwindled in the past few days. It exploded to over 57% during the mid-week run, but it has dipped below 56% on CoinGecko now.
You may also like: Bitcoin’s Sharpe Ratio Signals an ‘Optimal’ Spot Accumulation Window Analyst: Bitcoin Stuck Near $65K Because Capital Is Flowing to AI Has Bitcoin Already Bottomed? Grayscale Says Macro Signals Matter More This Week’s Crypto Headlines You Can’t Miss Strategy Extends Bitcoin Buying Pause While Growing Its USD Reserve: Details. Saylor’s company appears to have listened to some market experts who suggested that it should pause its BTC purchases in favor of rebuilding its USD reserve. The past week proved that narrative right once again with another no-buy bitcoin announcement.
Veteran Crypto Exchange BitMEX to Shut Down in September. After nearly a decade in existence, the veteran derivatives platform BitMEX announced that it will close shop in September. The creator of the 100x perpetual swap will permanently cease operations on September 23 and urged users to withdraw their funds by then. While on the subject, DEX aggregator Odos said it will shut down next week.
SEC Agrees to Overhaul Recordkeeping After Settling Coinbase Lawsuit Over Gensler’s Lost Texts. Despite not admitting any wrongdoing, the US Securities and Exchange Commission settled with Coinbase a lawsuit launched by the exchange and agreed to pay $150,000 in attorney fees. The regulator also said it will review its own internal processes.
‘Hackers Day’: 3 Crypto Protocols Drained of $35 Million in 24 Hours. July 23 became known in the crypto community as ‘Hackers’ Day’ with 3 major exploits taking place within less than 24 hours. The largest of the bunch was against Arbitrum-based protocol AFX Trade, in which the bad actors swiped over $24 million in USDC.
EU Hits Russia With Toughest Crypto Crackdown Yet. The European Union approved its 21st sanctions package against Russia, targeting 11 crypto operators and 94 financial institutions to combat sanctions evasion. Many of those platforms came from Belarus and Nigeria and were linked to numerous Russian financial activities.
Ethereum (ETH) Is Cheap, But Not at Bottom Yet: Analysts. The world’s largest altcoin may be trading well below its record peaks and at a discount, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that it has bottomed yet. Analysts at CryptoQuant noted that only two out of five signals suggest that the worst is behind ETH.
Charts This week, we have a chart analysis of Ethereum, Ripple, Cardano, Binance Coin, and Hyperliquid – click here for the complete price analysis.
BitMEX faces a proposed class action lawsuit alleging its co-founders ran a secret trading desk that used customer data to engineer liquidations, filed the same day the exchange announced it would shut down in September.
What Are The Plaintiffs Actually Alleging?The first allegation centers on a hidden trading desk that ran from BitMEX’s Manhattan office throughout 2018 under former business development head Gregory Dwyer.
The desk used software to pinpoint which price moves would force the most customer liquidations, then traded to push prices to those exact levels.
Plaintiffs say the desk saw everything — customer account data, hidden orders, and liquidation points, despite BitMEX telling users that information stayed private.
The second allegation centers on March 13, 2020, when users lost access to the platform for about 25 minutes as BitMEX force-closed roughly $800 million in leveraged positions.
BitMEX first pointed to a cloud hardware failure, then switched its explanation to two DDoS attacks four days later. Plaintiffs claim BitMEX gave false explanations, deliberately froze the platform, and never compensated any affected users.
What Did BitMEX Say In Response?Benzinga reached out to BitMEX for comment and received a response from CEO Peter Wilkinson.
“This is yet another spurious and opportunistic claim that has no basis whatsoever,” Wilkinson said.
“We have had many such claims against us in our history and successfully dealt with each and every one, and look forward to vigorously defending ourselves again this time,” he added.
Plaintiffs filed a substantially similar lawsuit in the same court in April 2020 before voluntarily dismissing it on June 30, 2025.
How Much Did Each Plaintiff Lose?BKX Services claims losses of at least 305.8 BTC across 13 liquidations between July and August 2018.
Namdar claims roughly 316.9 BTC lost across 14 named liquidations plus at least 69 smaller ones, spanning August 2019 to May 2020.
Both plaintiffs are seeking return of the actual Bitcoin rather than cash damages, a legal claim known as replevin.
The proposed class covers anyone who bought Bitcoin swap products on BitMEX in domestic U.S. transactions from July 23, 2018 onward, with aggregate claims estimated above $5 million.
The suit names co-founders Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed, Benjamin Delo, and Gregory Dwyer as defendants alongside parent company HDR Global Trading and four affiliated entities.
Photo via Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
A proposed class action landed in New York federal court the same day BitMEX announced it will close on Sept. 23, reviving allegations the exchange pocketed customer collateral.good job I as
BitMEX and its co-founders, including Arthur Hayes, were sued in a proposed class action accusing the exchange of keeping customer collateral seized in liquidations and running an internal trading desk with access to confidential position data. The complaint was filed July 23 in the Southern District of New York — the same day BitMEX said it will shut down after 11 years.
Plaintiffs BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar claim BitMEX auto-liquidated their leveraged positions while their remaining collateral was worth roughly twice their losses, then routed the excess into the exchange's insurance fund instead of returning it. Together they seek the return of 622.66 BTC — about $40 million at current prices, per CoinGecko — plus compensatory and punitive damages.
"BitMEX deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations (by seizing its customers' bitcoin), while its customers were unable to escape the unfavorable positions BitMEX created," the complaint says.
Insider With “God Access”The filing alleges an internal "Insider Trading Desk," run largely by former business development head Gregory Dwyer out of Manhattan, had "God access" to customer positions and liquidation points, used software to find the price moves that would liquidate the most customers, and kept trading during server freezes that locked everyone else out.
The complaint brings two counts — replevin, seeking the bitcoin back in kind, and fraud — and details each liquidation: 13 hits on BKX Services between July 4 and Aug. 20, 2018, and 14 larger ones on Namdar between August 2019 and May 2020, including a 128.58 BTC liquidation in October 2019.
The suit names HDR Global Trading, 100x Holdings, and related entities, along with co-founders Hayes, Benjamin Delo, and Samuel Reed, and Dwyer. The proposed class covers US customers of BitMEX's BTC swap products going back to July 23, 2018.
BitMEX did not reply to a request for comment from The Defiant by oress time.
A Recycled ComplaintThe filing revives a 2020 class action that made similar claims about BitMEX's liquidation engine and insurance fund under the Commodity Exchange Act. That case was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice in June 2025, with no ruling on the allegations; the new complaint attaches the old one as its first exhibit, along with Hayes's 2020 indictment and plea allocution.
Hayes, Delo, and Reed pleaded guilty in 2022 to Bank Secrecy Act violations after BitMEX entities paid a $100 million civil penalty to the CFTC and FinCEN. President Donald Trump pardoned all three, plus Dwyer, in March 2025. Hayes is now CIO of his family office, Maelstrom.
An 11-Year Run EndsHours before the suit was filed, BitMEX announced it will close on Sept. 23 at 04:00 UTC, following what owner-operator HDR Global Trading called "a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry." New registrations stopped immediately, position limits kick in Aug. 26, and remaining positions will be force-closed before the deadline. The exchange said users can withdraw after closure and that "all assets exceed liabilities" per its proof-of-reserves page.
The exchange that invented the 100x perpetual swap had faded to under 0.01% market share, with daily volumes around $400,000, according to Kaiko data cited by Reuters. Its BMEX token dropped roughly 90% on the closure news. BitMEX removed its CEO and CFO in late June amid reports it was seeking a buyer.
Hayes marked the end with a post on X: "Satoshi for life."
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
BlackRock, Coinbase and others launch $15 million Bitcoin Quantum Defense Fund.
BlackRock, Coinbase, Strategy, Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Galaxy have formed the Bitcoin Security Consortium, pledging a combined $15 million over three years to fund Bitcoin security research and open-source development focused on quantum computing defense. The consortium does not hold or allocate funds; each member will directly select developers and researchers to support. It noted that it will not guide Bitcoin development or take positions on protocol changes. Mike Schmidt of Brink, a nonprofit developer funding organization, will coordinate the work on a volunteer basis. Currently, no quantum computer exists that can crack Bitcoin’s cryptography. Approximately 6.9 million BTC, worth $450 billion, are held in addresses that could be affected if such quantum computers emerge. Fixing this issue will require coordination among wallets, exchanges, miners, and users. Relevant efforts include proposals like BIP 360, which designs a new output type to limit public key exposure and pairs with post-quantum signature schemes. Robert Mitchnick, head of digital assets at BlackRock, stated that Core developers do important work, and the organization will provide additional funding for Bitcoin’s long-term security.
7 minutes ago
BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF has deposited 3,126 bitcoins worth $203 million into Coinbase Prime.
According to monitoring by Onchain Lens, BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF deposited 3,126 Bitcoin into Coinbase Prime over the past hour, valued at $203 million.
7 minutes ago
Bank of America Strategist: Market Ignoring Risks, Warn of Backlash from AI Investments
US Bank (BofA) European Equity Strategist Sebastian Raedler recently issued a stark warning: current stock market pricing logic is entirely predicated on an "everything is perfect" assumption. This extreme optimism has not only pushed market valuations to elevated levels but also left investors’ risk exposures completely unprotected. Raedler pointed out that the market’s expectations for core metrics including profit margins and five-year forward earnings growth have surged to all-time highs. In stark contrast, the "risk premium"—a gauge of market risk aversion—has dropped to a 20-year low. Raedler advised investors to decisively exit cyclical sectors with high valuations and fragile fundamentals, shifting instead to high-quality defensive stocks that have been long overlooked by the market. He specifically highlighted the healthcare and consumer staples sectors.
7 minutes ago
The EU’s 21st round of sanctions against Russia has expanded to cover 14 crypto-related platforms.
The European Union (EU) has expanded its sanctions against Russia, targeting the A7 cross-border payment network and its newly established African links, as well as the A7A5 stablecoin used for evading sanctions. The latest sanctions package extends transaction bans to 14 crypto-related platforms in countries including Georgia, the United Arab Emirates, and Panama, and introduces a tool to fully prohibit Russia from using crypto asset services. Beyond digital asset measures, the EU has imposed asset freezes and transaction bans on 94 banks and major financial institutions, and extended transaction bans to another 33 Russian credit and financial institutions.
7 minutes ago
Glassnode: Defensive positions in Bitcoin options are being unwound, and demand for bearish hedging is weakening.
Glassnode released Bitcoin options market data showing that the Bitcoin put/call open interest ratio has dropped sharply from around 0.76 at the end of June to 0.52, indicating that defensive positions are being unwound, while BTC price remains stable near $67,000. At-the-money (ATM; BlockBeats note: An at-the-money option refers to an option whose strike price is closest to the current price of the underlying asset) implied volatility remains compressed: 34.3% for 1-month tenors and 40.8% for 6-month tenors, with the term structure sloping upward, signaling that short-term event risks are being underestimated by the market. The short-term 25-delta skew has plummeted to around 4%, reflecting weakened recent demand for bearish hedging, though medium- and long-term skew still holds at a defensive premium level of 11-12%.
7 minutes ago
Whale 0x446B sells 8,010 $ETH ($15.11M) after 8 months inactivity, realizes $10.8M loss
Whale 0x446B sold 8,010 $ETH($15.11M) 2 hours ago after 8 months of inactivity, incurring a loss of $10.8M (-37%).
BitMEX has been hit with a proposed class action lawsuit in the United States accusing the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange of engineering customer liquidations that allegedly allowed it to retain hundreds of Bitcoin before its planned September shutdown.
Summary
BitMEX has been sued in a proposed class action alleging it engineered customer liquidations to retain hundreds of Bitcoin. The plaintiffs are seeking the return of 622.66 BTC along with compensatory and punitive damages on behalf of eligible US traders. The lawsuit was filed on the same day BitMEX confirmed it will shut down its exchange operations in September. Court filings in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York show that BKX Services Inc. and trader David Namdar filed the complaint on Thursday, alleging they lost a combined 622.66 BTC through forced liquidations on BitMEX. BKX claims losses of at least 305.81 BTC, while Namdar alleges losses exceeding 316.85 BTC.
Filed on the same day BitMEX confirmed it would wind down its exchange business, the lawsuit revives allegations that have circulated around the platform’s liquidation system for years. The plaintiffs argue that the exchange’s internal trading operations gave it an unfair advantage over customers during periods of market stress.
Plaintiffs seek return of Bitcoin According to the complaint, BitMEX offered leveraged trading of up to 100 times customers’ collateral but allegedly liquidated positions before all available collateral had been exhausted. The filing claims customers often lost their positions while the remaining Bitcoin collateral was still worth substantially more than the trading losses.
The plaintiffs allege the excess Bitcoin was transferred into BitMEX’s insurance fund instead of being returned to users, allowing the exchange to benefit financially from forced liquidations. They further claim an internal trading desk had access to non-public customer information and was able to continue trading during server outages that prevented ordinary users from managing or closing their own positions.
“BitMEX deliberately developed a system that profited from the liquidations,” the plaintiffs alleged in the complaint.
Alongside the return of the allegedly withheld Bitcoin, BKX Services and Namdar are seeking compensatory and punitive damages. The proposed class action also seeks to represent U.S. customers who traded Bitcoin perpetual swap products in transactions dating back to July 23, 2018.
The filing also points to an earlier class action brought in 2020 by Brett Messieh and other traders, who made similar allegations under the Commodity Exchange Act. Court records cited in the complaint show that case was voluntarily dismissed without prejudice on June 30, 2025, allowing similar claims to be brought again.
Lawsuit coincides with exchange closure The legal action arrives as BitMEX prepares to end more than a decade of exchange operations.
Earlier on Thursday, HDR Global Trading, the owner and operator of BitMEX, announced that it had decided to close the cryptocurrency derivatives platform following a strategic review of both the business and the digital asset industry. The company said exchange operations will end at 04:00 UTC on Sept. 23.
BitMEX has already stopped accepting new account registrations. Beginning Aug. 26, traders will no longer be able to open new positions and will only be permitted to reduce existing ones. During the weeks leading up to the closure, the exchange said it will progressively close outstanding positions, while any remaining open positions at the final deadline will be liquidated automatically.
The company also said contracts with limited liquidity may be settled early under its existing settlement procedures, with advance notice provided to affected users where necessary.
Although trading services will end in September, BitMEX said customers will continue to have access to their accounts for withdrawals and to review wallet balances and transaction history. Users who leave funds on the platform after the shutdown will be charged either the equivalent of $50 per month or 1% annually, whichever is higher, with fees deducted monthly from verified accounts.
BitMEX also warned customers to remain alert for phishing campaigns attempting to exploit news of the shutdown. It said no priority withdrawal service exists and cautioned users against anyone claiming they could accelerate withdrawals. The company added that increased withdrawal requests and Bitcoin network confirmation times could occasionally delay processing during the wind-down period.
Separately, BitMEX said its reserves remain higher than customer liabilities and pointed users to its proof of reserves and liabilities data as evidence that customer assets remain fully backed.
Exchange closes after months of restructuring The closure follows several months of internal changes at the exchange.
Earlier this month, BitMEX replaced chief executive Stephan Lutz as part of a management restructuring that also saw chief financial officer Ina Steiner and chief growth officer Raphael Polansky leave the company. Former chief operating officer and global general counsel Peter Wilkinson was subsequently appointed chief executive.
The leadership overhaul came while reports indicated the exchange had been exploring a potential sale. BitMEX has not announced a transaction since those reports emerged.
The company has undergone several executive changes since 2020, when founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed stepped down after U.S. authorities accused the exchange of failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls. BitMEX later pleaded guilty to those charges.
Alexander Höptner became chief executive in 2021 before Lutz took over during the cryptocurrency market downturn in 2022.
Founded in 2014, BitMEX became one of the earliest cryptocurrency derivatives exchanges and introduced the 100x leveraged perpetual swap, a product that later became widely adopted across the industry. In announcing its closure, the company said it had operated for more than 11 years without losing customer funds to hacks and thanked users for supporting the platform throughout its history.
The exchange’s shutdown announcement was followed by a sharp decline in its BMEX utility token, which fell by roughly 90% after the closure plans became public.
Key Takeaways BitMEX’s permanent closure is scheduled for September 23, 2026, concluding over a decade of operation In July 2026 alone, the platform removed 65 derivatives contracts and trading pairs from its offerings The exchange has immediately suspended new user registrations Account holders must retrieve their assets before the closure date to avoid $50 monthly charges or a 1% yearly fee The platform that introduced 100x leverage perpetual contracts gradually lost market dominance to competitors The cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX, credited with creating the perpetual swap contract, will permanently cease operations on September 23, 2026. All account holders have been instructed to liquidate their positions and transfer their assets off the platform promptly.
Dear BitMEX Users,
Today, we share with a very heavy heart that BitMEX exchange will shut down its operations, effective 23 September 2026 at 04:00:00 UTC.
The owner and operator of BitMEX, HDR Global Trading Limited, has made the difficult decision to close operations… pic.twitter.com/oWuqlh547f
— BitMEX (@BitMEX) July 23, 2026
The decision to wind down operations comes after HDR Global Trading Limited, the exchange’s parent entity, conducted a comprehensive strategic assessment. The company has not disclosed detailed reasons for the closure beyond citing this internal review and current cryptocurrency market conditions.
Established in 2014 by co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed, BitMEX once commanded the crypto derivatives landscape. The platform reached its zenith in 2019, processing more than $1 trillion in yearly trade volume and capturing approximately 57% of worldwide crypto derivatives trading.
At its height in July 2018, the platform recorded daily volumes exceeding $8 billion, with more than 1 million Bitcoin changing hands in a 24-hour period.
Accelerated Product Removals Throughout July The exchange has been swiftly reducing its available trading products. July 2026 saw the removal of 65 derivative instruments and trading pairs — a dramatic increase from only 19 delistings during the January-June period.
Platform representatives attributed these removals to “inadequate trading volume.” The accelerated timeline of product eliminations clearly demonstrates diminishing user engagement across the exchange.
Trading activity will persist for several more weeks, but August 26 marks the cutoff for initiating new positions. Any contracts still open at that time will be automatically closed ahead of the final September shutdown.
Penalties for Unclaimed Assets Account holders who fail to withdraw their holdings by the shutdown date will incur automatic charges. BitMEX will impose either a $50 monthly account maintenance charge or a 1% annual levy on dormant balances — depending on which fee structure is relevant.
According to the company’s proof of reserves documentation, all user obligations are completely backed by customer holdings. Users are advised to begin withdrawal processes early, as Bitcoin blockchain congestion may result in processing delays.
The Decline of a Market Leader The platform that pioneered the perpetual contract format gradually surrendered its market position as both established centralized competitors and emerging decentralized protocols attracted liquidity providers, professional market makers, and institutional participants.
Legal and compliance challenges contributed significantly to the platform’s decline. In 2020, authorities charged the exchange with insufficient anti-money laundering protocols, to which the company eventually entered a guilty plea. Hayes, Delo, and Reed stepped down from their positions after facing criminal prosecution from United States regulators.
This announcement arrives approximately three weeks after the departure of BitMEX’s chief executive officer, chief financial officer, and head of growth. An industry restructuring consultant informed Cointelegraph that medium-sized trading venues like BitMEX encounter systemic challenges as trading activity consolidates at major platforms while regulatory compliance expenses escalate.
Notably, throughout its 11 years of operation, BitMEX preserved an unblemished security record, never experiencing user fund losses from security breaches or smart-contract vulnerabilities.
The crypto market ended the week higher even as U.S. equities slipped.
Summary
Bitcoin gained 4.16% as total crypto capitalization rose 2.30% to $2.22 trillion during the week. CLARITY Act passage odds improved despite resistance over ethics, enforcement powers and political conflict concerns. Bridge attacks drained AFX and Allbridge while BitMEX scheduled its September exchange shutdown for users. CoinMarketCap’s six-part recap placed total crypto capitalization at $2.22 trillion, up 2.30%, with Bitcoin gaining 4.16% and Ether rising 2.98%. The S&P 500 lost 0.53%, while the Nasdaq Composite barely moved. Altcoins also posted selective gains during the week.
CMC Market Pulse: Crypto Market Seeks Clarity
BTC +4.16%, ETH +2.98%. Market cap climbs to $2.22T as crypto decouples from weak equities. All eyes on the CLARITY Act as a potential market catalyst.
Let's break down this week's top crypto narratives 🧵
1/6 pic.twitter.com/b69e4RUdZG
— CoinMarketCap (@CoinMarketCap) July 24, 2026 CoinMarketCap described the week’s theme as “crypto market seeks clarity.” Liquidations remained contained, with shorts closing earlier and longs later. Funding rates stayed near neutral, suggesting leverage had not reached levels seen during sharper market swings.
Bitcoin leads while policy returns to focus Bitcoin and Ether led the recovery as traders watched the latest U.S. market structure bill. Senator Cynthia Lummis released updated CLARITY Act text on July 22 after Senate Banking and Agriculture committees merged their work. The draft covers regulator duties, developer protections, stablecoin rules, ethics, anti-money laundering controls and law enforcement provisions.
Lummis called the coming weeks the “last real chance” to pass the legislation for years. However, Senator Elizabeth Warren and other Democrats criticized its ethics language and enforcement structure. As crypto.news previously reported, disputes over political conflicts, decentralized finance protections and crime investigations have repeatedly slowed the bill, even as prediction-market estimates for passage rose.
Corporate balance-sheet activity added another signal. Strategy increased its U.S. dollar reserve by $225 million to roughly $3.2 billion after selling common shares, while keeping 843,775 BTC. The reserve supports preferred-stock dividends and debt interest rather than new Bitcoin purchases.
Shutdowns and project changes reshape the sector BitMEX announced that it will close on Sept. 23 at 04:00 UTC after reviewing its business and the wider market. The derivatives platform stopped new registrations and will block new positions from Aug. 26. Users can reduce positions and withdraw assets before the final shutdown.
The closure ends an 11-year run for a platform that helped popularize perpetual swaps and high-leverage crypto derivatives. As crypto.news reported before the announcement, BitMEX replaced senior executives in June while reports of a possible sale continued. The shutdown added pressure to smaller centralized exchanges competing for liquidity and paying higher compliance costs.
Other projects also changed direction. CoinMarketCap’s project update said Hyperliquid outlined permissionless HIP-4 outcome markets requiring 500,000 HYPE in staking support. Pump.fun introduced BOOST Mode for new launches, while ENS DAO activated a two-year security council able to stop transactions considered malicious.
Bridge attacks bring security risks back into view Several cross-chain systems reported attacks. AFX Trade lost about $24.15 million in USDC after attackers obtained enough validator signatures to approve a bridge withdrawal. Arbitrum said the attack did not affect its native bridge. AFX paused operations while investigators reviewed the compromised signing setup.
Allbridge also halted its core bridge after a $1.65 million flash-loan attack on Solana liquidity pools. The attacker manipulated pool balances, withdrew assets at favorable rates and moved proceeds toward Ethereum. Across Protocol faced a separate Solana incident, but the project said the loss affected a Risk Labs-operated relayer rather than customer funds. It later restored Solana deposits.
The incidents returned bridge design and key management to the center of DeFi security. As crypto.news reported in earlier coverage, attacks have continued through 2026, including losses involving Kelp DAO and Axelar routes connected to Secret Network.
Institutional capital and tokenization continue expanding Institutional deals provided a different market narrative. Crypto.com announced a $400 million investment from Citadel Securities at a $20 billion valuation. The company said it will use the funding to expand tokenized securities, derivatives and other asset classes across a planned 24/7 financial platform.
S&P Dow Jones Indices and Pantera Capital also launched the S&P Pantera Digital Asset Index. The benchmark uses a rules-based method focused on productive blockchain assets and companies with measurable use or revenue, rather than relying only on token popularity or price momentum.
Meanwhile, xStocks moved beyond U.S. shares by adding tokenized exposure to Hong Kong-listed equities through Payward and GTN. The companies plan to consider U.K., European and South Korean securities after securing required approvals. Tokenized equity value and trading activity have expanded as exchanges and traditional firms build around-the-clock products.
The week combined a market rebound with unresolved policy talks, security failures and infrastructure investment. Bitcoin and Ether finished higher, but stronger prices did not remove operational risks. The next market test will depend on the CLARITY Act’s Senate path, responses to bridge attacks and whether institutional funding converts into sustained trading and settlement activity. Traders will also watch funding rates and liquidation pressure closely.
BitMEX logo in front of building (CoinDesk)Summary
BitMEX is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit from BKX Services and David Namdar, who allege unfair liquidations and the withholding of collateral.The complaint, which cites 622.66 BTC ($40.7 million) allegedly owed to the plaintiffs, says BitMEX designed a system to retain customer collateral and says an internal desk accessed private user data during server freezes.The lawsuit coincides with BitMEX announcing it will cease operations on Sept. 23, ending its 11-year run as a crypto derivatives exchange.BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange that invented the perpetual swap, faces a proposed class action suit alleging theft of bitcoin BTC$64,902.80 and insider trading filed the same day it said it would shut down in three months.
The lawsuit, filed by former tokenization project BKX Services and David Namdar in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, sees BKX claim it lost at least 305.81 BTC through forced liquidations, while Namdar alleges losses of more than 316.85 BTC — a total of 622.66 BTC ($40.7 million).
The July 23 filing came as BitMEX said it would close on Sept. 23, ending an 11-year run. Similar claims were made in a 2020 class-action case, which was closed in June 2025 without a ruling on the liquidation allegations.
The new complaint alleges BitMEX and co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed designed a system to retain customers’ collateral and transfer the remaining bitcoin to the platform’s insurance fund. It also says an internal trading desk had access to private customer information and could continue trading during server freezes that prevented other users from closing their positions.
BitMEX allowed traders to borrow up to 100 times their collateral to leverage their positions. The plaintiffs allege the platform liquidated their positions while the collateral was still worth roughly twice the losses and withheld the balance.
It names parent company HDR Global Trading, several affiliates and the co-founders as respondents.
The plaintiffs want to represent U.S. customers who bought BitMEX bitcoin swap products from July 23, 2018. They are seeking the return of the bitcoin, compensatory damages and punitive damages. It requires a judge to rule that it can proceed as a class-action suit.
The exchange’s closure followed a strategic review by HDR and a wider management shake-up. BitMEX lost its CEO, chief financial officer and head of growth last month, with general counsel Peter Wilkinson taking over as CEO.
CoinDesk reached out to BitMEX and other defendants for comment, but had not heard back by publication time.
Related Assets
12345678910
Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation
Crypto Flows, Share and the Selective Rotation
Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Jul 22, 2026
Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
Why it matters:
Markets repositioned since June, but Binance held share (~55% user funds, ~24% spot) and drew net inflows in early July while the tracked market saw outflows.
24 July 2026 | 13:20 BitMEX is facing a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging that its liquidation system was designed to take Bitcoin from customers and that an internal trading operation used information unavailable to ordinary users.
Key Takeaways Two customers allege that BitMEX liquidations cost them a combined 622.66 BTC. The proposed class action also claims that an internal trading desk used confidential customer information. BitMEX rejects the allegations and says it will defend the case. A similar case ended in 2025 without a ruling on the underlying liquidation claims. BKX Services Inc. and trader David Namdar filed the complaint in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York on July 23.
The plaintiffs say they lost a combined 622.66 BTC through forced liquidations. BKX claims losses of at least 305.81 BTC, while Namdar alleges that he lost more than 316.85 BTC.
The defendants include BitMEX operator HDR Global Trading Limited, several related companies, co-founders Arthur Hayes, Benjamin Delo and Samuel Reed, and former executive Gregory Dwyer.
The filing opens a civil case but does not establish that any of the allegations are true. The proposed class has not been certified, and the defendants will have an opportunity to challenge the claims.
Why the Liquidation System Is Central to the Case BitMEX became known for offering highly leveraged crypto derivatives, allowing traders to control positions much larger than the collateral deposited into their accounts.
When losses push a leveraged position beyond the exchange’s maintenance threshold, the platform can liquidate it automatically. That process is intended to prevent the account from developing a deficit that the trader cannot cover.
The plaintiffs are not arguing that exchanges have no right to liquidate undercollateralized positions. Their complaint instead claims that BitMEX closed certain trades while the remaining collateral was still worth more than the loss that needed to be covered.
According to the filing, Bitcoin left after those liquidations was transferred into the exchange’s insurance fund rather than returned to the customer. The plaintiffs allege that this arrangement gave BitMEX a financial interest in liquidating additional positions.
They are seeking the return of the Bitcoin they say was improperly retained, along with compensatory and punitive damages. The proposed class would include certain US customers who traded Bitcoin swap products on BitMEX beginning July 23, 2018.
The Complaint Alleges an Internal Trading Advantage The lawsuit also describes an operation it calls the “Insider Trading Desk.”
The plaintiffs allege that the desk could access confidential information about customer positions and liquidation levels. Such data could reveal where a relatively small price movement might trigger a larger group of forced closures.
They also claim that internal trading accounts could remain active during server outages that prevented regular customers from logging in, modifying orders or closing positions.
In this case, “insider trading” is not being used in the conventional stock-market sense of trading company shares with confidential corporate information. The complaint alleges that a proprietary desk traded on BitMEX while holding nonpublic information about other users on the same venue.
The court has not determined whether the alleged desk existed in the form described, accessed customer information or influenced liquidation events.
BitMEX Rejects the Claims BitMEX has denied the accusations.
A company spokesperson told Cointelegraph that the exchange had previously dealt with similar allegations. The spokesperson described the new filing as an opportunistic and baseless claim and said the company would vigorously defend itself.
If the case proceeds, the dispute could turn on technical records showing how the liquidation engine operated, where remaining collateral was transferred and what account permissions were available to any internal trading operation.
BitMEX may first ask the court to dismiss the complaint before the parties reach discovery. A dismissal request would test whether the plaintiffs have presented legally sufficient claims, not necessarily whether every factual allegation is correct.
An Earlier Case Ended Without Resolving Similar Claims The new complaint follows a separate proposed class action filed in 2020 by Brett Messieh, Drew Lee and other BitMEX customers.
That case also raised allegations involving forced liquidations, the exchange’s insurance fund and an internal trading desk with access to customer information.
The action was terminated on June 30, 2025. According to the final court order, the remaining plaintiff was dismissed after failing to respond to repeated instructions asking whether he intended to continue the case. The order also referred to a stipulation filed by the other parties.
The case therefore ended without a trial or a ruling on the truth of the liquidation allegations. Its closure was neither a judicial confirmation of the claims nor a finding that the disputed conduct never occurred.
The Filing Came as BitMEX Began Its Final Wind-Down The complaint was filed on the same day BitMEX announced that its exchange would close after more than 11 years of operation.
Under the official closure timetable, exchange services will end on September 23 at 04:00 UTC. The platform will become reduce-only on August 26, meaning users will no longer be able to open new positions or increase existing exposure.
BitMEX may begin closing positions during the period between those dates. Any positions still open when exchange services end will be force-closed.
Our guide to the BitMEX shutdown deadlines explains the withdrawal process, the reduce-only period and the fees that may apply to balances left on the platform.
The timing puts the lawsuit and the closure in the same news cycle, but the available information does not establish that the complaint caused the exchange to shut down. BitMEX said its board reached the decision after reviewing the business and the wider crypto industry.
BMEX and Open Interest Fell After the Closure News The market response added to the pressure surrounding the exchange.
BitMEX’s BMEX token fell more than 90% after the shutdown announcement, reaching its lowest level since trading began in November 2022. Bitcoin open interest on the exchange had also fallen from almost $3 billion at its 2024 peak to approximately $113 million.
Our analysis of the BMEX decline and contraction in BitMEX open interest shows that derivatives activity had already weakened considerably before the final closure process began.
Those market moves help explain the condition of the platform as it enters its wind-down. They do not provide evidence for or against the claims made in the lawsuit.
CZ Reflects on the Exchange’s Crypto Legacy Binance co-founder Changpeng Zhao, known as CZ, said he was “sad to see BitMEX go” and credited the exchange with helping pioneer 100x crypto perpetual contracts.
His reaction reflects BitMEX’s influence on a product that later became central to crypto derivatives trading. It did not address the new complaint or express a view on the plaintiffs’ allegations.
What Happens Next The defendants can respond to the complaint and may seek to have some or all of the claims dismissed. If the case survives that stage, the plaintiffs would still need to convince the court that their claims are suitable for treatment as a class action.
Discovery could then involve records related to the liquidation engine, the insurance fund, server outages, customer data and internal account permissions. The case could also end through dismissal, settlement or another procedural outcome before reaching trial.
For BitMEX users, the court process does not change the exchange’s operational deadlines. Traders still need to manage open positions before the platform becomes reduce-only and withdraw their assets as BitMEX moves toward its September closure.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or legal advice.
Author
Alexander Zdravkov is a market analyst and crypto journalist with interests in economics, broader financial markets and digital assets. His journey into crypto began more than four years ago, driven by a fascination with the rapid evolution of blockchain technology and the transformative potential of decentralized finance. He began analyzing market cycles and identifying emerging trends before they reach the mainstream. He holds a degree in International Relations - a background that helped shape his broader perspective on global economics, geopolitics, and the interconnected nature of modern financial markets. Whether covering the latest developments in the crypto sector or exploring broader macroeconomic themes, Alexander focuses on giving readers context rather than simply repeating headlines. During his career, he has authored more than 5,000 articles covering cryptocurrencies, traditional finance, and global market developments. His work spans everything from Bitcoin and altcoins to macroeconomic trends influencing risk assets worldwide.
TL; DR BitMEX faces a class action lawsuit alleging it profited from forced liquidations involving 622.66 BTC in customer losses. The legal challenge comes as the exchange prepares to close operations. The firm set a closure date on September 23 after more than a decade in crypto. BitMEX’s decline reflects broader industry consolidation as early crypto giants face regulation, competition, and operational challenges. BitMEX’s planned shutdown has been followed by a major legal challenge, with the crypto derivatives exchange facing a proposed class action lawsuit accusing the platform of unfair liquidation practices that allegedly cost traders more than 622 BTC.
The lawsuit was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar on the same day BitMEX announced it would permanently close operations on September 23. The plaintiffs claim the exchange used its trading infrastructure, liquidation system, and internal access to benefit from customer losses during highly leveraged trading events.
According to court documents, BKX alleges losses of approximately 305.81 BTC, while Namdar claims losses exceeding 316.85 BTC, bringing the combined amount at the center of the case to 622.66 BTC.
The legal action adds another layer of uncertainty to the final chapter of BitMEX, a platform that once dominated Bitcoin derivatives trading but has faced regulatory pressure, declining market share, and now renewed accusations over its historical operations.
BitMEX Lawsuit Revives Long-standing Liquidation Allegations The plaintiffs allege that BitMEX’s liquidation mechanism was designed in a way that allowed the exchange to profit from forced closures of customer positions.
The complaint claims that traders using BitMEX’s high-leverage products could have their positions automatically liquidated even when their remaining collateral allegedly exceeded the losses generated by those liquidations.
The lawsuit further alleges that liquidated assets were transferred into BitMEX’s insurance fund, creating financial benefits for the platform at the expense of users.
A central argument in the filing is that BitMEX’s internal trading operations allegedly had advantages unavailable to ordinary customers. The plaintiffs claim an internal trading desk had access to confidential customer information and could continue operating during periods when users were unable to access the platform due to server freezes.
BitMEX has rejected the accusations, saying the claims are without merit and that the exchange has successfully defended itself against similar allegations in the past.
Crypto Industry Hit With Massive Shakeout BitMEX’s collapse mirrors a broader trend across the crypto sector, where early industry leaders have struggled to maintain dominance as regulations tightened and competition intensified.
The recent bankruptcy filing of former Bitcoin mining giant Poolin highlights a similar pattern. Poolin rose to become the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool in 2019 before financial pressure forced it into Chapter 11 proceedings years later.
Both cases demonstrate how companies that helped define crypto’s early growth cycle have faced significant challenges adapting to a more mature industry.
For BitMEX, the combination of shrinking market share, legal disputes, and regulatory challenges has transformed the exchange from a market leader into a company preparing for closure.
While the lawsuit does not determine the outcome of BitMEX’s shutdown process, it could complicate the exchange’s final months and potentially influence how remaining liabilities are handled.
BitMEX and its founders, Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed, and Ben Delo, are facing a new class action lawsuit just one day after the crypto derivatives exchange shut down. The lawsuit alleges the exchange secretly traded against its own users through an internal trading desk, with plaintiffs BKX Services and David Namdar claiming combined losses of 622.66 BTC (about $40.7 million).
BitMEX, Founders Named in New Class ActionThe lawsuit was filed on July 23, 2026, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York by BKX Services Inc. and David Namdar on behalf of a proposed class of BitMEX users.
The complaint names HDR Global Trading Limited, along with BitMEX co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, Samuel Reed, and former executive Gregory Dwyer as defendants. The plaintiffs allege the exchange secretly operated what it calls an “Insider Trading Desk” that traded directly against customers while publicly presenting itself as a neutral marketplace.
According to the complaint, BitMEX allegedly had privileged access to customer orders, including so-called “hidden orders,” giving insiders an unfair trading advantage that ordinary users could not see.
The lawsuit claims customers believed they were trading only against other market participants when, according to the filing, BitMEX itself was allegedly taking the opposite side of trades.
One of the central allegations is that BitMEX allegedly used the internal desk to profit from customer liquidations while generating more trading fees.
According to the filing, the exchange earned more than $1 billion in transaction fees between November 2014 and October 2024, while its flagship XBTUSD perpetual contract processed over $2 trillion in trading volume during that period.
The plaintiffs also claim they suffered significant Bitcoin losses while trading on the platform. BKX Services alleges losses totaling 305.80903296 BTC, while David Namdar claims losses of 316.85578220 BTC through multiple liquidations. The complaint further alleges that customers collectively lost thousands of Bitcoin as a result of the exchange’s alleged conduct.
The lawsuit also revisits the March 13, 2020 market crash, claiming that around $800 million worth of leveraged positions were liquidated while many users were allegedly unable to access the exchange because of system outages.
According to the complaint, the alleged insider trading operation continued functioning during the disruption. The filing argues that these events allowed BitMEX to generate what it describes as “ill-gotten gains” through trading fees, customer liquidations, and its growing Insurance Fund.
Plaintiffs Seek Return of BitcoinThe plaintiffs are asking the court to certify the case as a class action and order BitMEX to return customers’ Bitcoin. They are also seeking compensatory and punitive damages, legal fees, court costs, and interest.
According to the complaint, users would not have traded on BitMEX if they had known about the alleged hidden trading desk.
The lawsuit comes just one day after BitMEX shut down its exchange. It also follows the platform’s 2020 legal troubles, when U.S. regulators charged the company over anti-money laundering and Bank Secrecy Act violations.
This new case shifts the focus to how BitMEX allegedly handled customer trades internally.
Loading article prices
Loading profile preview
Loading profile preview
Story Ends Here
Trust with CoinPedia:CoinPedia has been delivering accurate and timely cryptocurrency and blockchain updates since 2017. All content is created by our expert panel of analysts and journalists, following strict Editorial Guidelines based on E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness). Every article is fact-checked against reputable sources to ensure accuracy, transparency, and reliability. Our review policy guarantees unbiased evaluations when recommending exchanges, platforms, or tools. We strive to provide timely updates about everything crypto & blockchain, right from startups to industry majors.
Investment Disclaimer:All opinions and insights shared represent the author's own views on current market conditions. Please do your own research before making investment decisions. Neither the writer nor the publication assumes responsibility for your financial choices.
Sponsored and Advertisements:Sponsored content and affiliate links may appear on our site. Advertisements are marked clearly, and our editorial content remains entirely independent from our ad partners.
The closure of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX is prompting fresh questions about whether the industry is entering a new phase of consolidation, as analysts point to market-share concentration and rising regulatory costs squeezing smaller platforms.
While BitMEX helped pioneer perpetual swaps that became a cornerstone of digital asset derivatives trading, its daily Bitcoin futures volume began declining around May 2021 and never recovered to its 2020 daily peak of between $1 billion and $5 billion, according to data from CryptoQuant.
Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph the exchange’s demise reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, where liquidity has increasingly concentrated among the industry’s largest players and regulatory compliance costs continue to rise. He said:
The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale... The headwinds are structural, not cyclical.Source: BitMEX
The fall of BitMEXBitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, announced on Thursday that it will shut down. Trading is scheduled to end on Sept. 23 following a strategic review by parent company HDR Global Trading.
The shutdown announcement also triggered a sharp sell-off in BitMEX’s utility token, BMEX, which plunged more than 90% after the exchange revealed plans to wind down operations.
BMEX token drops over 90%. Source: CoinMarketCap.
The announcement came after years of declining market share. CoinGecko ranked BitMEX ninth among derivatives exchanges in August 2023 with a 0.9% share of trading volume. By 2025, it no longer appeared among the firm’s top 10 perpetual exchanges, even as annual perpetual trading volume across those platforms climbed 47.4% to a record $86.2 trillion.
The rise of regulated competitorsBitMEX rose to prominence by offering offshore perpetual derivatives years before similar products became available through regulated venues. Today, those same products are increasingly offered through licensed exchanges in jurisdictions including the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the US, Coinbase launched perpetual-style futures through a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange in May after receiving no-action relief from the regulator. The CFTC also approved Bitcoin perpetual futures for Kalshi. In June, Kraken followed with CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible US traders through its recently acquired Bitnomial exchange.
The trend has also extended beyond the United States. This month, Coinbase secured a UK investment services license allowing it to expand its derivatives business ahead of the country’s new crypto regulatory regime.
Magazine: Here’s why the CLARITY Act’s ethics deal may be so hard to reach
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
The closure of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX is prompting fresh questions about whether the industry is entering a new phase of consolidation, as analysts point to market-share concentration and rising regulatory costs squeezing smaller platforms.
While BitMEX helped pioneer perpetual swaps that became a cornerstone of digital asset derivatives trading, its daily Bitcoin futures volume began declining around May 2021 and never recovered to its 2020 daily peak of between $1 billion and $5 billion, according to data from CryptoQuant.
Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph the exchange’s demise reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, where liquidity has increasingly concentrated among the industry’s largest players and regulatory compliance costs continue to rise. He said:
The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale... The headwinds are structural, not cyclical.Source: BitMEX
The fall of BitMEXBitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, announced on Thursday that it will shut down. Trading is scheduled to end on Sept. 23 following a strategic review by parent company HDR Global Trading.
The shutdown announcement also triggered a sharp sell-off in BitMEX’s utility token, BMEX, which plunged more than 90% after the exchange revealed plans to wind down operations.
BMEX token drops over 90%. Source: CoinMarketCap.
The announcement came after years of declining market share. CoinGecko ranked BitMEX ninth among derivatives exchanges in August 2023 with a 0.9% share of trading volume. By 2025, it no longer appeared among the firm’s top 10 perpetual exchanges, even as annual perpetual trading volume across those platforms climbed 47.4% to a record $86.2 trillion.
The rise of regulated competitorsBitMEX rose to prominence by offering offshore perpetual derivatives years before similar products became available through regulated venues. Today, those same products are increasingly offered through licensed exchanges in jurisdictions including the United States and the United Kingdom.
In the US, Coinbase launched perpetual-style futures through a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange in May after receiving no-action relief from the regulator. The CFTC also approved Bitcoin perpetual futures for Kalshi. In June, Kraken followed with CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible US traders through its recently acquired Bitnomial exchange.
The trend has also extended beyond the United States. This month, Coinbase secured a UK investment services license allowing it to expand its derivatives business ahead of the country’s new crypto regulatory regime.
Magazine: Here’s why the CLARITY Act’s ethics deal may be so hard to reach
Cointelegraph is committed to independent, transparent journalism. This news article is produced in accordance with Cointelegraph’s Editorial Policy and aims to provide accurate and timely information. Readers are encouraged to verify information independently.
BitMEX Platform Token Plunges Over 99% Following Shutdown Announcement
Market data shows that, likely influenced by BitMEX’s shutdown announcement, its exchange platform token (issued in 2022) plummeted 99.69%, and at one point experienced liquidity issues. Earlier news reported that crypto exchange BitMEX announced it will close on September 23 and has stopped new user registrations.
Vanar Announces Migration to Base, Total Supply of VANRY Token Increases to 10 Billion
Vanar issued an announcement stating that it will no longer operate purely as a Layer 1 blockchain, but instead focus on building an AI Organizations economy and will migrate to the Base chain. In terms of tokens, existing VANRY holders will migrate at a 1:1 ratio, with their holdings remaining unchanged. However, the total supply will increase from 2.4 billion to 10 billion tokens to support AI Organizations ecosystem incentives, developers, partners, and infrastructure development. During the migration phase, 62% of the total supply remains locked. The newly added portion has a cliff period and is subject to a 60-month vesting schedule, meaning it will take five years for the full allocation to be distributed. After the cliff period, the monthly distribution will be approximately 1% of the total portion. Additionally, Vanar will end its validator staking mechanism on Vanarchain and integrate its infrastructure onto the Base network.
Changxin Technology Shares to List on Shanghai Stock Exchange STAR Market on July 27
Changxin Technology Company’s shares will be listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market on July 27, 2026.
Citigroup Lowers Coinbase Target Price from $400 to $235
Citigroup has lowered its target price for Coinbase (COIN) from $400 per share to $235.
Binance Alpha Launches Third Round of Swarm Network (TRUTH) Airdrop, 256 Points Can Claim 2,501 Tokens
Binance Alpha has launched the third round of Swarm Network (TRUTH) airdrop distribution. Users holding at least 256 Binance Alpha points can claim 2,501 TRUTH token airdrops on a first-come, first-served basis. If the reward pool is not fully allocated, the point threshold will automatically decrease by 5 points every 5 minutes. Claiming the airdrop will consume 15 Binance Alpha points. Users must confirm the claim on the Alpha Events page within 24 hours; otherwise, it will be considered a forfeiture of the airdrop.
Abu Dhabi Sovereign Wealth Fund Partners with Coinbase to Launch Tokenized Private Equity Fund
Mubadala Capital, an Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund, announced a partnership with Coinbase and infrastructure provider KAIO to launch a blockchain-native version of its long-term private equity fund, issued to qualified investors in the form of compliant tokens. Coinbase will use its Base blockchain as one of the networks operating the tokens and will purchase the tokens itself, holding them on its corporate balance sheet. This marks the first time a U.S.-listed company has used regulated tokenized assets for native on-chain treasury management on its U.S. stock balance sheet.
Michael Saylor Announces Launch of Bitcoin Security Consortium, Commits $15 Million Over Three Years
Michael Saylor tweeted that he officially launched the Bitcoin Security Consortium. The consortium is dedicated to supporting the long-term security and resilience of the Bitcoin network and has pledged a total of $15 million in funding over the next three years. Founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, BlackRock, Block, Blockstream, Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets®, Galaxy, and Strategy, covering various sectors of the Bitcoin ecosystem, including bitcoin holders, custodians, exchanges, infrastructure providers, payment providers, and asset managers. The daily operations of the consortium are coordinated by Mike Schmidt, Executive Director of Brink. Brink is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to funding and supporting Bitcoin open-source developers. Schmidt himself is participating on a volunteer basis.
Data disclosed by CryptoRank shows that cumulative on-chain perpetual swap trading volume has surpassed $15 trillion. The most significant growth occurred in 2024-2025 (up 200%), driven primarily by the development and growth of Hyperliquid and other perpetual DEXs, as well as the rapid expansion of the on-chain perpetual swap market. Since January 2026, Hyperliquid has maintained its market-leading position, accounting for 30% of total trading volume.
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Last Week Were 187,000, Below Market Expectations
U.S. initial jobless claims for last week came in at 187,000, compared to an estimated 211,000 and a previous figure of 208,000.
UN Report: Southeast Asian Cryptocurrency Scam Losses Could Exceed $100 Billion, Comparable to Some Countries’ GDP
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) stated in a report that the scam industry in Southeast Asia has solidified into a single, interconnected criminal economy, with losses now comparable to the output of some nations. It is estimated that in 2025 alone, losses from scam crimes in East Asia, Southeast Asia, Australia, and New Zealand will reach $88.3 billion to $114.1 billion, a figure that "exceeds the GDP of several countries in the region." The majority of these are cryptocurrency investment scams, most of which are conducted in massive criminal compounds. The agency urged police in Southeast Asia to receive specialized cryptocurrency training to trace and seize illicit funds, warning that disruption-focused strategies are not working.
Bitcoin Treasury Company Empery Digital Invests $20 Million in Cardinal Data Power, Holds Approximately 8% Equity
Empery Digital Inc. (Nasdaq: EMPD), which employs a bitcoin treasury management strategy, announced that it completed a $20 million preferred stock investment in Cardinal Data Power, Inc. ("CDP") on July 20, holding approximately 8% equity. This investment is part of CDP's approximately $70 million Series A funding round, aimed at supporting its first data center campus project in West Texas. The Series A round was led by Hood River Capital Management. CDP is a private developer affiliated with Hunt Properties, specializing in powered data center campus development.
Kaito AI: Has Reached a Data Cooperation Agreement with X Company to Support Various Application Scenarios
Singapore-based crypto data company Kaito AI tweeted that it has reached a data cooperation agreement with X company, aimed at supporting multiple application scenarios.
LayerZero and Keeta Partner to Launch New Tokenized Commercial Bank Coin
LayerZero and Keeta have reached a partnership to enable interoperability of tokenized commercial bank funds across Ethereum, Solana, Base, and Keeta networks. According to the announcement, the issuance centers on Keeta Stablecoin, a new type of tokenized commercial bank money funded by commercial bank deposits and traded through the Bivo platform. Bivo is a US-licensed fintech platform with access to the US payment system and a network of partner banks. Unlike traditional stablecoins that rely on multiple types of reserves, Keeta Stablecoin represents actual commercial bank deposits and allows the issuing institution to retain full contract permissions at every stage through LayerZero's Omnichain Fungible Token standard. LayerZero stated that the Keeta Stablecoin will be issued in USD later this month, following earlier launches of currencies including Euro, Japanese Yen, Renminbi, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Mexican Peso, UAE Dirham, and Hong Kong Dollar. The statement said Keeta is a Visa Direct payment network partner, is building blockchain infrastructure for regulated financial institutions, and recorded 11.2 million verified transactions per second in a public stress test with the Google Spanner engineering team.
2,210 BTC Transferred from Anonymous Wallet to Kraken, Worth Approximately $143.8 Million
2,210 BTC ($143,824,955) were transferred from an unknown wallet to Kraken, worth approximately $143.8 million.
Sky Protocol Q2 Revenue Exceeds $100 Million, Up 10.5% YoY
The Sky Frontier Foundation released its Sky ecosystem report for Q2 2026. Sky Protocol achieved profitability for the fifth consecutive quarter, with total protocol revenue reaching $107.35 million, up 10.5% year-over-year; net protocol revenue grew even faster to $40.09 million, up 25.1% year-over-year, bringing total revenue over the past 12 months to $159.63 million. Net protocol surplus was $33.29 million, positive for the fifth consecutive quarter. Protocol collateral grew 45.5% year-over-year to $12.32 billion, and sUSDS reached $5.52 billion at the end of the quarter, up 149% year-over-year. Sky Reserve retained $29.87 million in Q2, the largest quarterly contribution since the recapitalization on March 14, bringing its quarter-end reserves to $82.4 million.
Arthur Hayes Responds to BitMEX Shutdown: Incredibly Proud of Everything We Built Together
In response to the BitMEX shutdown, former BitMEX co-founder Arthur Hayes tweeted his thanks to partners, BitMEX employees, and customers, calling it a wonderful journey and expressing pride in what was built. "Thank you to my partners, the BitMEX employees, and most importantly: our customers. It's been a hell of a ride. We created something extraordinary together. I'm incredibly proud of everything we built together, and we get to shut it down responsibly, on our own terms. Satoshi lives."
Ondo Finance's Oasis Pro Markets Receives FINRA Authorization to Offer Tokenized Stocks and Funds to US Investors
Ondo Finance announced that its SEC-registered broker-dealer subsidiary Oasis Pro Markets has received authorization from US regulators to launch regulated tokenized securities markets and services in the US under the oversight of the SEC and FINRA. Oasis Pro Markets' authorization allows it to conduct tokenized securities trading in the US, regulated by the SEC and FINRA. The authorization covers activities including over-the-counter trading, underwriting primary market issuances, private placements, and other activities. Additionally, Oasis Pro Markets will operate a compliant platform for US issuers to conduct primary market issuances of tokenized securities and for US institutional and retail investors to trade these tokenized securities on the secondary market. Under this framework, Oasis Pro Markets can provide US investors with market access to NMS stocks, ETFs, mutual funds and index fund interests, and securities issued through IPOs and traded on the secondary market. Settlement of these assets can be in fiat currency or supported stablecoins, including settlement directly between blockchain-based wallets.
Uniswap v4 Launches Permissioned Pools
Uniswap has launched Permissioned Pools, a new hook standard on Uniswap v4 that enables the trading of permissioned assets through automated market makers, with compliance enforced directly on-chain. Permissioned Pools were developed in collaboration with on-chain regulated asset teams. The first partners include Superstate, Securitize, and Dowgo.
US SEC to Host Roundtable on September 17 to Discuss Transition to 24-Hour Stock Trading
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) will host a roundtable on September 17 to explore matters related to the transition of the US stock market to 24-hour trading, including preparations to support overnight trading, 24-hour market operations and resilience, and the opportunities and challenges of expansion. The roundtable will be open to the public and livestreamed on the SEC website. The agenda and speaker information for the roundtable will be announced ahead of the event.
Tom Lee: The AI "Wealth Uncanny Valley" Is Approaching, Future AI Agents Could Generate More Income Than Individuals
Tom Lee, Chairman of Ethereum treasury company Bitmine, shared an interview on X platform saying that artificial intelligence is approaching what he calls the "uncanny valley of wealth," and at some point in the future, the income generated by an individual's AI agents may exceed their own labor income. Tom Lee believes that when this moment arrives, people may begin to wonder whether "I am working for AI or AI is working for me." In the future, AI agents may take over bank accounts, replace some jobs, and even build independent financial systems, and he acknowledged that this trend "may make people fearful of the future."
SemiAnalysis: ASML Raises FY2026 Guidance Twice, Signaling Further Strengthening of Semiconductor Equipment Upcycle
Research firm SemiAnalysis posted on X that ASML raised its FY2026 guidance for the second time in three months during its Q2 earnings report, which it believes signals a further strengthening of a new upcycle in the semiconductor equipment industry. SemiAnalysis pointed out that positive signals include order visibility extending to 2028, management proactively planning capacity expansion, mulling price increases for similar products, re-accelerating shipments of DUV immersion lithography systems, and continued growth in the service business. Based on these factors, the firm believes there is still upside to current market revenue expectations for ASML and expects the company to further raise its long-term guidance in the future.
Specter: A PancakeSwap LP Attacked via Malicious EIP-7702 Signature, Losing Approximately $2.96 Million
A long-inactive PancakeSwap liquidity provider (LP) lost approximately $2.96 million after signing a malicious EIP-7702 authorization. It is reported that the attacker removed about $1.48 million in BSC-USD and $1.48 million in BUSD liquidity provided by the victim, and swapped the BUSD for ETH. Currently, the attacker has deposited about $1.46 million into Tornado Cash, with the remaining approximately $1.48 million USDT still held in the attacker's address.
BitMEX Closure Announcement Triggers 95% BMEX Crash, Bubblemaps Says 75% of Token Allocation Never Circulated On-Chain
Blockchain data analytics platform Bubblemaps stated that after BitMEX announced its closure, the price of its platform token BMEX plunged sharply, now down roughly 95% from its previous levels. According to BitMEX’s publicly disclosed tokenomics, about 75% of the total BMEX supply was originally earmarked for employee incentives, ecosystem development, and long-term reserves, but these tokens were never distributed on-chain. Data shows that in 2021, around 92% of the BMEX supply was locked in vesting contracts, with the remaining 8% allocated at the token launch, including: 5% for airdrops; 3% for product and liquidity support. Each allocation category previously corresponded to an independent address designed to receive future unlocked tokens. To date, however, only one claim has been recorded: on November 2, 2022, the product and liquidity address claimed approximately 63.75 million BMEX, while the employee incentive, ecosystem growth, and long-term reserve allocation addresses have not seen any token claims. Bubblemaps noted this does not necessarily indicate a problem, as the project may have subsequently adjusted its tokenomics, contracts, or distribution plans without reflecting those changes on-chain. Yet based on the previously public BMEX tokenomics design, those allocation portions have not actually entered on-chain circulation. BitMEX, co-founded by Arthur Hayes and others, pioneered the perpetual contract trading model, significantly influencing the crypto derivatives market. The closure announcement has visibly dented market confidence in BMEX.
Sources: Anthropic Considering Requiring Employees to Sell Shares via Pre-Set Trading Plans After IPO
People familiar with the matter revealed that AI giant Anthropic is considering an unusual arrangement after its public listing, requiring ordinary employees to sell their shares through pre-set trading plans to avoid violating insider trading regulations. Reports say the arrangement would use 10b5-1 trading plans, where the timing and quantity of stock sales are set in advance and executed according to the plan. Typically, such plans apply mainly to company executives, directors, and certain finance and legal personnel. If Anthropic ultimately implements this and extends it to ordinary employees, it would be a relatively rare practice.
AI Coding Company Cognition Acquires Poke Developer Interaction
AI programming company Cognition AI officially announced the acquisition of The Interaction Company of California. Poke is a personal AI agent that operates within SMS, proactively sending messages, following up on user needs, and delivering services through a “friend-like” interaction model. Over the past three months, Poke users have exchanged more than 100 million messages with it, making it the only AI agent natively supported by Apple to run directly inside Apple Messages. Cognition stated that the Interaction team has built agents characterized by proactiveness, personalization, and high interactivity, aligning with the development direction of its own AI software engineering agent, Devin. The two teams have been following each other for years, and Cognition’s co-founder said both sides have long been betting on “always-on cloud agents.” After the acquisition, Poke users can continue using the product normally. Going forward, Cognition plans to leverage its own models and infrastructure to improve Poke’s speed and reliability.
AMD CEO: Computing Market Expected to Reach $2 Trillion by 2030
At the AMD Advancing AI event, AMD CEO Lisa Su said the AI accelerator market is expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2030; the data center CPU market is forecast to hit $220 billion by 2030; overall, the computing market is projected to reach $2 trillion in scale by 2030.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader: Clarity Bill Expected to Miss Window Before Congressional Summer Recess
U.S. Senate Majority Leader John Thune indicated that the Clarity bill likely cannot pass before the August 7 recess, but the Senate will at least begin the review process before then. Thune said he “hopes to at least get the Clarity bill moving,” but the Senate will prioritize a Russia sanctions bill pushed by the late Senator Graham next week, and Graham’s funeral mid-week will occupy senators’ time. White House crypto adviser Patrick Witt responded that he was “puzzled” by Thune’s remarks, arguing there is still time for deliberation in the first week of August and he “wouldn’t completely rule it out.” Industry and lawmakers had previously been optimistic that the Clarity bill could pass the Senate within the next two weeks, but the current progress means it will most likely be delayed until September, and the probability of passing in 2026 has dropped significantly. After the bill’s final working draft was released this week, controversy has persisted — Democrats are unhappy with ethics provisions for government officials, and some Republican lawmakers have raised objections over stablecoin yield treatment and wording of ethics clauses. The bill needs 60 votes to advance. If the Senate begins debate before the recess but fails to pass it, there will still be a brief window after returning in September, but election politics and other priorities will compete for legislative time.
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev’s X account was suspected to have been hacked, with a post claiming that “Vladhood ($VLAD)” would become the “official mascot of Robinhood Chain” and list on the Robinhood app, including a contract address. The official Robinhood account did not post any similar message, and the Robinhood Chain explorer flagged the token as a “potential scam.” Robinhood officials later confirmed that Tenev’s account was compromised and are working with X to restore access; the relevant post has been deleted. Robinhood Chain, launched on July 1, has become a hot venue for meme coin trading, processing roughly 6 million transactions daily with cumulative DEX trading volume around $9 billion, primarily driven by high-risk meme coins.
Swan CEO: Twenty One Serves Tether’s U.S. Political Interests, Mallers’ Role a “Figurehead”
In a podcast interview, Swan Bitcoin CEO Cory Klippsten sharply criticized Tether and its backed Twenty One Capital, claiming Tether “effectively controls” the publicly listed bitcoin reserve company and uses it as a tool to advance political interests in the U.S., but provided no evidence. Tether did not respond to a request for comment. Klippsten also described Strike founder Jack Mallers’ CEO role at Twenty One as a figurehead, saying his primary duty was to promote the company’s stock, and suggested that Mallers’ departure was not his own decision. Mallers resigned as CEO this week, while his company Strike also walked away from a potential merger with Twenty One.
Stripe Reportedly in Talks to Acquire OpenRouter, Deal Could Reach $10 Billion
Sources say Stripe is in talks to acquire AI model aggregator platform OpenRouter, with a deal possibly reached soon. OpenRouter was previously valued at roughly $1.3 billion, but if sold, the transaction value could reach around $10 billion.
Alphabet’s Stake in Anthropic Surges in Value to About $124 Billion
Alphabet Inc.’s stake in artificial intelligence startup Anthropic PBC has soared in value to roughly $124 billion, making it one of the most successful investments in the company’s history.
OpenAI Plans to Collaborate with AMD to Develop MI500 Series AI Chips and Follow-up Products
OpenAI expects large-scale deployment of AMD Helios. OpenAI's head of infrastructure said the company started using AMD Helios GPU racks three months ago, and OpenAI plans to collaborate with AMD on developing the MI500 series AI chips and subsequent products.
AMD CEO: Rack-scale AI system Helios has fully entered production
The AMD Advancing AI conference was held in San Francisco from July 22-23. At the conference, AMD CEO Lisa Su said that the AI accelerator market is expected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2030, the global data center CPU market will reach $220 billion, and the global computing market will reach $2 trillion. In addition, AMD officially launched its first rack-scale AI system, Helios. Lisa Su said that Helios has fully entered production and will begin shipping soon. CNBC analysis pointed out that a year ago, Lisa Su's forecast for the AI accelerator market size in 2028 was $500 billion. Based on the latest forecast, by the end of this decade, that scale will be roughly equivalent to the size of today's "entire semiconductor market." Lisa Su said that GPUs will account for the majority of that.
New US tariffs take effect today, imposing 10%-12.5% tariffs on dozens of countries
Just as the 150-day global temporary tariffs expired this Friday, the Trump administration introduced new tariff measures. Citing Xinhua News Agency, it reported that the US Trade Representative's office issued a notice on July 23, announcing under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that tariffs of 10% to 12.5% would be imposed on dozens of countries and regions for failing to prevent "forced labor," effective 24th Eastern Time. The above tariffs will cover 99% of US trade volume. The new tariffs will be stacked on top of already-in-effect tariffs, with only certain agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, aviation parts, steel and aluminum, etc., eligible for exemptions. The new tariffs will be stacked on top of already-in-effect tariffs, with only certain agricultural products, pharmaceuticals, aviation parts, steel and aluminum, etc., eligible for exemptions.
Coinbase now supports business customers accepting payments from AI agents via the x402 protocol
Starting this week, Coinbase is allowing its business customers to accept payments from AI agents via the x402 protocol, which was developed and incubated by Coinbase. Coinbase Business users can let agents pay in USDC with no additional setup, powered by Coinbase Payments. The head of Coinbase Business said they are providing a payment experience similar to traditional shopping scenarios for the new online agent economy — agents can shop after creating a wallet, and businesses provide services through an agent-friendly checkout flow. Coinbase also offers agent trading functionality, allowing users to give instructions in natural language, with agents monitoring the market in real-time and executing trades. Developers can add x402 payment acceptance to any API or web service in as few as 3 lines of code via the new x402 SDK on the Coinbase Developer Platform.
DEX aggregation protocol Odos announces cessation of operations, all services permanently shut down from July 30
Decentralized exchange aggregation protocol Odos posted on X that its operating company is gradually winding down operations. The Odos app will switch to read-only mode on July 27, and all services will permanently close on July 30. New account registration, new wallet creation, and new limit orders have been disabled since July 23; from July 27 to 30, the app will only allow viewing transaction history and balances; after July 30, services will completely cease, and the team will no longer provide development, support, or maintenance. Users who created wallets via social or email login must transfer assets to other wallets or export private keys before July 30. Odos emphasized that the ODOS token exists independently of the operating company, the company does not custody or market-make the token, and its cessation of operations does not affect the token's on-chain mechanisms. Odos DAO is independent of the company and will announce its plans separately. Odos reminded users to beware of fake migration websites and airdrop scams, and never share seed phrases or sign suspicious transactions.
US CFTC extends comment period for 24/7 futures trading and energy perpetual contract rules to August 26
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) extended the public comment period for proposed rules on "extending standard futures contracts to 24/7 trading and perpetual contracts for physically-deliverable or storable energy commodities" by 30 days, to August 26, 2026. The CFTC stated that it decided to extend the comment period based on commenters' requests and the addition of several new questions in the request for comments. The original request for comments focused on two types of issues: first, extending standard futures contracts (including energy futures) to 24/7 trading without changing fixed expiration dates, involving significant economic changes to delivery or settlement terms; second, perpetual contracts involving physically-deliverable or storable energy commodities. After extensive communication with the industry, the CFTC added additional questions for consideration to ensure a comprehensive evaluation of the relevant matters.
ARK Invest Director of Crypto Research Lorenzo Valente posted on X that Hyperliquid's weekly RWA (Real World Assets) trading volume exceeded crypto asset trading volume for the first time, accounting for 54% of total trading volume. Of that, $26 billion was HIP-3 RWA trading, with individual stocks making up 61% of RWA trading volume, surpassing indices and commodities since June. Valente said total DEX perpetual contract trading volume last week was $79 billion, of which Hyperliquid accounted for $50 billion, meaning its RWA market has surpassed the combined crypto perpetual trading volume of all other DEXs. Valente believes RWA trading will form a landscape independent of crypto assets, and investors should not rely solely on mainstream crypto asset trading volume as a judgment basis; paying attention to subcategories within RWA is more critical.
Report: Bitcoin may be near cycle bottom, multiple indicators simultaneously flash rare signals
Blockworks researcher Luke Leasure published a report indicating that Bitcoin may be at or near a cycle low. BTC is down 50% from its all-time high, the bear market has lasted over 40 weeks, and multiple high-timeframe indicators have simultaneously reached historically rare levels. Bitcoin recorded its most severe relative oversold reading against the Nasdaq ever this month, and also set a relative oversold record against gold in February. The realized price (on-chain average cost basis) is around $53,000, only 18% below spot, and historically every bear market low has traded at a discount to this level. The report noted that historically bear market cycles tend to bottom around the 60th week after the all-time high, which would correspond to a cycle low potentially appearing by the end of November 2026. If historical patterns hold, it would take about 120 weeks for Bitcoin to reclaim its previous high, implying new highs could appear by February 2028. Leasure emphasized that as Bitcoin matures, the marginal returns of passive holding strategies diminish; outperforming the market requires identifying opportunistic overweight or underweight windows. Currently multiple conditional signals are simultaneously at historically rare levels, and the period from now to December 2026 may present an attractive long-term re-accumulation window, but the sample size is small, and structural changes (ETFs, corporate holdings, derivatives) could invalidate historical patterns.
Argentina advances capital market deregulation, plans to allow mutual funds to invest in cryptocurrencies
The Argentine government is advancing capital market deregulation, planning to allow mutual investment funds (FCI) to invest in Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, and to allow virtual assets to be used as collateral. The measure stems from a draft "Deregulation Bill" drawn up by Economy Minister Federico Sturzenegger, which is now awaiting President Javier Milei's signature before being submitted to Congress. The draft explicitly allows FCIs to allocate assets to virtual assets and creates "qualified investor" funds. The Argentine National Securities Commission's oversight of FCIs is limited to legality and technical solvency reviews; the central bank will have exclusive regulation of infrastructure involving the registration or transfer of cryptocurrencies and tokenized assets. The draft also explicitly allows securities such as stocks, convertible bonds, etc., to be issued, stored, and traded via crypto networks.
An entity stakes 1.49 million HYPE through 8 wallets, worth approximately $88.2 million
An entity staked 1.49 million HYPE (approximately $88.2 million) through 8 wallets, with individual staking amounts ranging from 115,700 to 390,400 tokens. On-chain data shows that all wallets withdrew HYPE from Bybit about 9 months ago and have held it since.
1kx: On-chain protocol fees fell 33% YoY in Q2, perpetual and prediction markets grew 22% against the trend
Crypto VC firm 1kx posted an analysis on X stating that on-chain protocol fees dropped 33% year-over-year in the second quarter. Among them, DEX fees fell by $625 million (–57%), mainly led by declines from Meteora, Raydium, and PancakeSwap, which collectively generated $1.5 billion in fees in the first half of last year. Blockchain and MEV fees decreased 40% to $362 million. Launchpad fees dropped 57%, with Pump.fun accounting for nearly half. However, perpetual contract and prediction market fees grew 22% YoY, led by edgeX and Hyperliquid; Polymarket fees neared $100 million in a single quarter. Lending and asset management protocol fees continued to grow, with Morpho, USDai_Official, and maplefinance each adding $9 million to $19 million; Canton Network added $179 million in L1 fees (mostly incentive-driven).
CryptoQuant: Ethereum shows improving signs relative to Bitcoin, but key bottom signal not yet confirmed
CryptoQuant’s latest weekly report notes that ETH is trading roughly 17% below its realized price (~$2,300). Historically, when ETH trades below its realized price, it often coincides with market undervaluation and long-term bottom zones. Ethereum also shows improving signs relative to Bitcoin: ETH’s MVRV ratio has retreated from extremely overvalued levels, exchange inflows have declined, ETF holdings have started to recover after months of weakness, and ETH/BTC spot trading volume has fallen into ranges historically associated with market bottoms. Nevertheless, only two of CryptoQuant’s five key bottom indicators have reached historical reversal levels. The remaining indicators, though improving, have not yet touched the extreme levels seen at prior cycle lows, suggesting Ethereum’s bottom may still be forming.
Goldman Sachs CEO publicly backs Clarity Act, diverging from Wall Street peers
Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon said in a Politico interview that he is “very supportive of advancing the Clarity Act,” hoping to establish market structure and push the innovation process forward. Solomon acknowledged the bill is “not perfect,” but its core value lies in creating a level playing field to enhance market stability. This stance puts him at odds with JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and banking trade groups, which have opposed the bill’s stablecoin yield provisions for months, arguing that allowing crypto firms to offer stablecoin rewards at higher rates than banks could siphon off bank deposits. The Clarity Act classifies most crypto assets as non-securities and excludes them from SEC oversight while protecting decentralized developers. The latest version adds an ethics clause restricting the president and family from engaging in crypto businesses, but it expires in 2029 and does not limit Trump’s sons — a point Democrats have criticized as insufficient. It remains uncertain whether the bill can pass before the August recess.
“Set 10 big goals first” whale’s long position increased to 2,933.63 BTC, with unrealized profit of $209,000
The “Set 10 big goals first” whale @Jason60704294 has increased its long position to 2,933.63 BTC, with an entry price of $64,940.14, total position value of $190 million, and unrealized profit of $209,000. After closing shorts, it flipped to a long because its medium- to long-term bullish view on BTC remains unchanged, believing $60,000 is an important cost-support area, with a stop-loss range of $61,500 to $64,000.
BlackRock: Crypto networks still hold the advantage in facing quantum threats
BlackRock published a report titled “Quantum Computing and Blockchain,” pointing out that upgrading existing cryptographic systems to quantum-resistant standards is technically entirely feasible, with the core challenge being timely coordination and implementation, and the upgrade difficulty is far lower than building a practical quantum computer capable of breaking those cryptographic systems. The report says about 35% of the circulating Bitcoin supply faces potential attack risk due to exposed public keys, and 11% to 19% could be permanently lost during migration. BlackRock believes crypto networks still hold the advantage in addressing quantum threats, saying “the advantage still lies with the defense.” Additionally, on Thursday, BlackRock joined Coinbase, Fidelity Digital Assets, and Block to announce the formation of the Bitcoin Security Alliance, funding developers to contribute code to open-source quantum-resistant proposals such as BIP-360. BlackRock said BIP-360 is a trusted and well-designed solution but did not call it the final solution.
BTC treasury company KULR Technology reduces again by 145.8 BTC, leaving only 100 BTC in reserve
BTC treasury company KULR Technology transferred 145.8 BTC ($9.45 million) to Coinbase Prime five hours ago. After multiple reductions over nearly three months, its reserve of 1,021 BTC ($101 million) now stands at just 100 BTC ($6.47 million). The average BTC reserve cost was $98,923, and the average selling price was $74,368, resulting in a loss of $22.62 million. It appears to have abandoned its Bitcoin treasury strategy.
A whale deposits 2.93 million HYPE (~$172 million) into Hyperliquid via 19 wallets and stakes
A whale deposited and staked 2.93 million HYPE ($172 million) into Hyperliquid via 19 wallets in the past 24 hours. These HYPE were accumulated nine months ago at an average price of $44, with a current unrealized profit of approximately $44.5 million.
AI chip startup Etched completes $300 million Series C, post-money valuation reaches $10.3 billion
AI chip startup Etched completed a $300 million Series C funding round led by Sequoia, with participation from Andreessen Horowitz, SK Hynix, Jane Street, and Diffusion Capital, reaching a post-money valuation of $10.3 billion, doubling from its $5 billion valuation last December. Etched was founded in 2022 by three Harvard dropouts, designing chips specifically for AI models based on the Transformer architecture. The company said it has successfully manufactured its own chips and has been tested by customers, having already received $1 billion in orders. Etched designed two new components for the inference process: a prefill chip that dramatically boosts speed and reduces heat through low-voltage operation, and a decode chip that uses cluster-level memory technology to enable a shared memory pool among chips. Etched currently has 400 employees, operates a 2MW data center, and has opened a new 80,000-square-foot, 10MW facility in Milpitas.
TIME magazine cover spotlights Unitree: Chinese humanoid robot company leads global wave
Unitree has appeared on the latest cover of TIME magazine, with the accompanying title: “The humanoid robot revolution is coming — Chinese company Unitree leads the trend.”
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
Binance adds ACX, LSK, STX to its monitored token list, tagging them as highly volatile and high-risk assets.
Binance announced in an official statement that starting July 24, 2026, it will add Across Protocol (ACX), Lisk (LSK), and Stacks (STX) to its "Monitoring Tag" list. Binance noted that tokens with the monitoring tag have higher volatility and risk compared to other listed assets, and the platform will closely monitor the relevant projects and conduct regular reviews. Such tokens face the risk of failing to meet Binance's listing standards and potentially being delisted in the future. Binance added that factors including the project team's level of commitment, quality of development activities, trading volume and liquidity, network security, smart contract stability, information disclosure status, changes to token economic models, and presence of any improper conduct will all be included in subsequent assessments. Binance stated that other services related to ACX, LSK, and STX will not be affected for the time being, and the monitoring tag will be updated after the announcement is released.
18 minutes ago
Sources familiar with the matter: The Bank of Japan is likely to maintain its policy guidance and commit to continuing interest rate hikes.
According to sources, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) is shifting its focus to whether companies will pass rising cost pressures on to households, and will continue to warn at next week’s policy meeting that inflation could stay above the 2% target for a prolonged period. Sources said the BOJ is expected to signal that the risk of short-term inflationary shocks triggered by rising oil prices has eased since April, though overall price pressures remain a concern. Additionally, the BOJ is likely to maintain its current policy guidance of continuing its interest rate hike path. Markets expect the BOJ to determine the pace of future monetary policy adjustments based on wage growth, service prices, and corporate pricing behavior.
18 minutes ago
South Korea's KOSPI index saw its decline widen to 5.61%, with Samsung falling more than 6%.
According to Bitget's market data, South Korea's KOSPI index has extended its decline to 5.61%, Samsung fell more than 6%, and SK Hynix dropped 5.52%.
18 minutes ago
An early MakerDAO address sold 1,050 MKR tokens after lying dormant for 10 years, netting $1.316 million in USDC.
According to EmberCN monitoring, an address belonging to MakerDAO’s early team or investor sold MKR tokens it had held for nearly 10 years 40 minutes ago, converting the proceeds to USDC. Data shows the address received 1,050 MKR in April 2016, with no transfers made over the subsequent decade—only a wallet migration during the MKR token upgrade in 2018. The address sold all 1,050 MKR this time, receiving approximately 1.316 million USDC, and transferred the funds to the Kraken exchange.
18 minutes ago
Maji was liquidated again, and subsequently sold BAYC NFTs to top up its margin.
According to Lookonchain’s monitoring, the address of crypto figure "Brother Ma Ji" Huang Licheng has been liquidated again. To raise funds to sustain his ETH long position, he was forced to sell a Bored Ape NFT at a loss. Data indicates that roughly two hours ago, Machi offloaded Bored Ape #6801 for 8.61 ETH. The NFT was purchased three years ago for 23.5 ETH, resulting in a loss of 14.89 ETH, equivalent to approximately $28,000.
18 minutes ago
Machi liquidated, forced to sell Bored Ape 6801 for 8.61 $ETH, taking $28K loss
Machi(@machibigbrother) was liquidated again! To raise more funds for his $ETH long, he had to sell his Bored Apes at a loss. 2 hours ago, he sold Bored Ape #6801 for 8.61 $ETH, which he bought 3 years ago for 23.5 $ETH, taking a loss of 14.89 $ETH($28K).
BitMEX will be closing down by September 23 following an 11-year period of being a pioneer of crypto perpetual futures. The platform encouraged users to liquidate their positions and withdrawals before the closure phases. The platform, which was one of the key players in trading cryptocurrencies, has decided to cease its activities. It has been responsible for the development of market derivatives for more than ten years. BitMEX, the platform that invented perpetual futures and revolutionized leveraged trading of cryptocurrencies. Has decided to finally close its doors on September 23, 2026.
BitMEX has notified their clients about the cessation of activities at 04:00 UTC on September 23. The company asked users to withdraw their funds before the final day to avoid additional costs. According to the company’s notifications of the company, all those who will keep funds in their accounts after this date will have to pay a fee of $50 per month or one percent per year of the value of the asset. The parent company of BitMEX, HDR Global Trading Limited, has stopped accepting new applications.
Orderly Wind Down in Response to Loss of Market Dominance The company is planning for an orderly wind down to minimize disruptions in the crypto derivatives trading markets. Starting from August 26, customers will no longer be able to initiate new positions, but already opened contracts will be completed up to the end of the term. All positions will be closed by exchange owners before the September deadline.
There could be withdrawal delays due to increased activity on the Bitcoin network while transferring customer funds out of the platform. Nevertheless, BitMEX stated that their latest proof-of-reserve data confirms that customer assets are completely covered by platform liabilities.
BitMEX’s Legacy Exceeds Regulatory Issues Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed launched BitMEX back in 2014 when they invented the concept of perpetual swap to change cryptocurrency derivatives trading forever. The company managed to trade more than $1 trillion in one year of trading activity in 2019 and owned about 57% of the total derivatives market globally. BitMEX’s daily trading volume reached approximately $8 billion at its highest point. Although having a flawless history of security with no hacks at all, BitMEX still had to face regulators in 2020 because of anti-money laundering issues.
Highlighted Crypto News:
Mirae Asset Acquires Korbit, Becomes Largest Shareholder in South Korea Crypto Exchange
I specialize in Web3 and crypto writing, producing clear, research-driven content on blockchain, cryptocurrencies, and market trends.
BitMEX announced Wednesday it will shut down its exchange on Sept. 23, 2026, ending an 11-year run as one of crypto’s most influential derivatives platforms after a strategic review of the business.
What Is Happening And WhenHDR Global Trading Limited, the owner and operator of BitMEX, said the board made the decision following a strategic review of the exchange and the broader crypto industry.
New account registrations stopped immediately with Wednesday’s announcement.
The exchange will continue operating normally until Aug. 26, when BitMEX will stop users from opening new positions, allowing only position reductions.
From Aug. 26 to the Sept. 23 closure, BitMEX will force close existing positions to wind down the market in an orderly way. Any positions still open at closure will be force closed immediately.
What Users Need To DoBitMEX is urging all users to close open positions and withdraw funds as soon as possible.
Users who fail to withdraw by Sept. 23 will face a monthly account fee of $50 or 1% per annum, whichever is greater, with the fee subject to increases over time if funds remain unclaimed.
BitMEX also warned users to watch for phishing attempts exploiting the closure news, noting that no expedited or priority withdrawal service exists.
The company confirmed all assets exceed liabilities as stated on its Proof of Reserves and Liabilities page. BitMEX has unstaked all previously staked BMEX tokens, making them immediately available in holders’ accounts.
What BitMEX Built And Why It MatteredBitMEX launched in 2014 with a mission to give retail traders access to professional-grade crypto derivatives.
The exchange invented the 100x leverage perpetual swap, now the most widely traded product structure in crypto and adopted across thousands of platforms globally.
The company pointed to its security record as a defining achievement, noting that BitMEX never lost user funds to a hack across its entire 11-year operating history, an outcome it said set it apart from many competitors in a space where exchange hacks have cost users billions of dollars.
Photo via Shutterstock
Market News and Data brought to you by Benzinga APIs
Key HighlightsStructured Wind-Down Process Commences for BitMEX PlatformAsset Withdrawal Deadline Precedes Implementation of Storage ChargesPioneering Platform Concludes Operations Following Regulatory and Business Challenges The BitMEX exchange will cease all operations permanently on September 23, 2026. All traders must liquidate their positions before forced closures start on August 26. New user registrations on BitMEX have been immediately suspended following a strategic assessment. Account holders who fail to withdraw assets after the shutdown will incur monthly storage charges. The closure marks the end of a 12-year journey for the crypto derivatives pioneer. The BitMEX cryptocurrency exchange will permanently cease operations on September 23, 2026, following a comprehensive strategic evaluation conducted by HDR Global Trading Limited, its parent entity. New account creation has been disabled immediately, and the platform is advising all customers to liquidate positions and transfer their digital assets before the final closure date.
Structured Wind-Down Process Commences for BitMEX Platform HDR Global Trading Limited made the determination to shutter the BitMEX platform following an extensive analysis of market dynamics and strategic priorities. Operations will persist through September 23 under a carefully managed phase-out plan. Trading limitations, however, will commence earlier on August 26.
Starting from that cutoff, traders will have restricted functionality allowing only position reductions on the exchange. Opening new trading positions will become impossible once these limitations activate. The platform will systematically wind down all outstanding positions leading up to the final termination.
Any contracts still active on September 23 will undergo automatic liquidation. Additionally, the company reserves the right to settle low-liquidity instruments ahead of schedule when required. Following the complete shutdown, customers will retain access solely to balance information, historical transaction data, and withdrawal capabilities.
Asset Withdrawal Deadline Precedes Implementation of Storage Charges The exchange has strongly recommended that all account holders transfer their holdings before trading activities officially terminate. The platform has confirmed that all staked BMEX tokens have undergone unstaking procedures. Consequently, token holders now have immediate access to these assets for transfer purposes.
Verified users who complete Know Your Customer requirements but neglect to remove their assets by the deadline will encounter custody fees. The platform will impose charges of either $50 or one percent per annum, selecting whichever sum proves greater. These fees will be assessed on a monthly basis until customers withdraw their remaining holdings.
BitMEX has alerted its community about fraudulent schemes exploiting the closure announcement. Additional security protocols will be implemented for withdrawal requests to safeguard customer funds throughout this transition. Processing times may extend beyond normal periods due to blockchain network confirmation requirements.
Pioneering Platform Concludes Operations Following Regulatory and Business Challenges Established in 2014, BitMEX rose to prominence as a dominant force in cryptocurrency derivatives trading. The exchange pioneered the 100x leverage perpetual contract structure that subsequently gained widespread industry adoption. Throughout its operational history, the platform maintained an unblemished security record without experiencing customer fund losses from security breaches.
According to company [[LINK_START_2]]statements[[LINK_END_2]], the platform consistently prioritized transparency, decentralized principles, and stringent customer fund protection measures. Earlier in the current year, industry sources suggested the exchange was pursuing potential acquisition opportunities with assistance from financial advisory firm Broadhaven Capital Partners. Shortly before the closure announcement, the organization implemented changes to its executive leadership structure.
The exchange’s history includes notable legal complications. In 2022, the platform’s co-founders entered guilty pleas related to inadequate anti-money laundering protocols during the 2015-2020 period. Although President Donald Trump subsequently issued pardons, the exchange maintained operations until this week’s announcement of its permanent closure following the completed strategic assessment.
Oliver Dale
Editor-in-Chief of Blockonomi and founder of Kooc Media, A UK-Based Online Media Company. Believer in Open-Source Software, Blockchain Technology & a Free and Fair Internet for all. His writing has been quoted by Nasdaq, Dow Jones, Investopedia, The New Yorker, Forbes, Techcrunch & More. Contact [email protected]
Not financial or tax advice. PANews content is strictly educational and informational and is not investment advice, financial advice, tax advice, legal advice, or a solicitation to buy or sell any digital asset, security, or financial product. Do your own research and consult qualified advisers.
Disclosure. PANews may publish sponsored content, partner content, advertisements, affiliate links, event promotions, and market commentary involving Web3 projects, service providers, or financial products. PANews personnel, contributors, or affiliates may hold digital assets or other interests related to covered topics. See our Terms of Service.
AMD saw a short-term drop of more than 5%, while Helios has entered full-scale production and is nearing shipment.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), AMD (AMD.O) shares have fallen to an intraday low, currently down 4.72%, after earlier rising 0.66%. AMD CEO Lisa Su just announced the launch of the Helios AI server full rack, noting that Helios has entered full-scale production and will begin shipping soon; the MI450 AI accelerator will become the industry's highest-performance AI accelerator.
1 hours ago
SpaceX has released the live stream page for its 13th Starship flight, with today’s launch probability currently reported at 64%.
According to PolyBeats' monitoring, SpaceX has just released the official live stream page for its 13th Starship flight test, which lists the live stream start time as 6:14 AM (UTC+8) on the 24th. On prediction market Polymarket, the "yes" probability for the question "Will SpaceX launch Starship today (local time 23rd)?" is currently at 64%, while the probability of a launch this month stands at 91%. Starship Flight 13 previously aborted automatically roughly 1 second before clearing the launch pad on the morning of July 17. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in its latest operational plan released today, continues to list SpaceX’s 13th Starship flight test as a scheduled task for the day. Flight 13 is now targeted for launch as early as 17:45 local time in Texas, or 06:45 Beijing time on July 24, with a 90-minute launch window extending to 08:15 Beijing time. Real-time data from Next Spaceflight shows all 19 launch preparation conditions—including rocket testing, stacking, airspace notices, and maritime warnings—have been completed, with no new technical faults or delay announcements reported to date. --------------------------------- Be among the first to glimpse the future. Follow @PolyBeats_Bot See tomorrow, today. Follow @PolyBeatsEN
1 hours ago
Citrini’s view: Bullish on AMD, bearish on NVIDIA. Coding AI is eroding NVIDIA’s competitive moat from the software side, marking the end of its CUDA moat.
Citrini analyst Jukan, citing recent core views from DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, pointed out that AI-driven code generation and high-level programming languages like TileLang are rapidly lowering entry barriers to the CUDA ecosystem. While DeepSeek uses NVIDIA GPUs to train its V3 model, it has significantly reduced its reliance on NVIDIA’s software ecosystem via its self-developed compiler and TileLang environment. Earlier, Liang projected that porting TileLang and DeepSeek’s compiler to Huawei chips would largely resolve China’s chip ecosystem issues in about a year, with production capacity being the only remaining bottleneck. Liang quantified the China-U.S. chip gap: hardware efficiency is roughly four times lower, and there is a roughly two-year time lag. He also revealed that DeepSeek is working closely with Huawei, expecting to obtain around 16,000 Huawei AI chips, and the Huawei 950 SuperNode can replace the workloads of NVIDIA’s GB200/GB300. Analyst Jukan characterized this as "the end of CUDA’s moat" and holds a highly bearish outlook on NVIDIA. Jukan added that this line of reasoning is precisely one reason for being bullish on AMD: advances in coding AI will also naturally accelerate the development of the ROCm ecosystem, helping narrow its gap with CUDA. When AMD recently invested in Anthropic, it announced it would actively use Claude Code for chip design and software engineering. Overall, advances in AI programming tools are systematically eroding NVIDIA’s competitive barriers from the software side. China’s chip ecosystem issues will be rapidly resolved thanks to code generation capabilities, while AMD will benefit from ROCm’s accelerated growth. The CUDA moat NVIDIA relies on to retain developer loyalty is facing a two-pronged attack, and catching up in hardware efficiency and production capacity is only a matter of time.
1 hours ago
AMD: AI Accelerator Market to Reach $1.4 Trillion by 2030
AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that the AI accelerator market is projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2030. AI accelerators are specialized hardware designed for AI computing tasks such as matrix operations in deep learning, capable of processing massive parallel workloads with far higher efficiency and energy efficiency than traditional CPUs. Mainstream types include NVIDIA GPUs and custom ASICs from vendors like Broadcom, which serve as the core computing backbone driving large model training and inference.
1 hours ago
Data: Approximately 75% of BMEX tokens have never been claimed or put into circulation, with only 8% allocated at the time of listing.
On-chain visualization analytics platform Bubblemaps noted that after BitMEX announced it would officially cease operations in September, its platform token BMEX plummeted by roughly 95% today. However, per the token economics model released in 2021, 92% of BMEX tokens are locked in vesting contracts, with only 8% allocated at launch — 5% via airdrop and 3% for product and liquidity purposes. On-chain data shows the only token withdrawal occurred on November 2, 2022, when the product and liquidity address received 63.75 million BMEX. Meanwhile, approximately 75% of tokens originally earmarked for employee incentives, ecosystem growth, and long-term reserves have never been withdrawn and have never entered circulation. Bubblemaps added that this is not necessarily a violation, but per the publicly disclosed allocation plan, these large portions of tokens have indeed never been actually distributed. BlockBeats previously reported that notably, the platform’s current handling of BMEX tokens is very limited, with no additional compensation or special arrangements. The only action explicitly mentioned in BitMEX’s official shutdown announcement today is that the platform has immediately unstaked all staked BMEX tokens and returned them directly to holders’ accounts. Per BitMEX’s earlier announcement, BMEX is a pure platform utility token, not equity, debt, or an asset with promised returns. The official disclaimer states that BMEX is only used for features such as trading fee discounts and staking rewards on the BitMEX platform, does not constitute an investment, and the platform assumes no refund or exchange liability.
1 hours ago
UK HMRC discloses crypto tax recovery results: More than £8 million recouped over two years.
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has disclosed that since launching its special crypto tax compliance drive in November 2023, it has reached disclosure settlements with 502 crypto investors over the past two years, recovering more than ￡8 million in taxes, for an average settlement of roughly ￡16,600 per case. Of these, 280 settlements were recorded in the 2024/25 fiscal year involving ￡3.54 million, while 222 settlements in the 2025/26 fiscal year brought in around ￡4.78 million. Meanwhile, the number of "reminder letters" HMRC sent to crypto investors has surged sharply: 64,982 in the 2024/25 fiscal year, a 680% jump from three to four years earlier. As the UK joins the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), crypto service providers will be required to compulsorily collect and report user identity and transaction data to authorities starting January 2026, further limiting investors’ ability to conceal gains. Currently, around 8% of UK adults (approximately 4.5 million people) hold crypto assets.
Muthoni Mary is a seasoned crypto market analyst and writer with over three years of experience decoding blockchain trends, price movements, and market dynamics. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Finance) from Kenyatta University, blending a solid academic foundation with a sharp eye for technical analysis and a deep understanding of on-chain data. Her work delivers clear, data-driven insights that empower investors to navigate the fast-evolving digital asset space with confidence. When she’s not analyzing the markets, Mary enjoys reading and travelling.
Read full bio
Copied!
Why Trust CoinGape
CoinGape has covered the cryptocurrency industry since 2017, aiming to provide informative insights to our readers. Our journal analysts bring years of experience in market analysis and blockchain technology to ensure factual accuracy and balanced reporting. By following our Editorial Policy, our writers verify every source, fact-check each story, rely on reputable sources, and attribute quotes and media correctly. We also follow a rigorous Review Methodology when evaluating exchanges and tools. From emerging blockchain projects and coin launches to industry events and technical developments, we cover all facets of the digital asset space with unwavering commitment to timely, relevant information.
Sponsored This page may contain affiliate links. If you sign up through these links, we may earn a commission at no additional cost to you. This does not influence our editorial reviews or rankings.
Highlights
Today's crypto market brief highlights an overall bearish outlook as BTC slips below $65,000. Rising oil prices and regulatory uncertainty are weighing on the market. BitMEX's shutdown dominated discussions in the crypto market today. The crypto market today, July 23, is leaning bearish as geopolitical tensions and lack of regulatory certainty around the CLARITY Act weigh on prices.
Top Movers Brent crude oil price trades at $99, its highest price since May 26, as Yemen’s Houthis attack two oil tankers belonging to Saudi Arabia in the Red Sea. Bitcoin price has dropped below $65,000 because of the escalating geopolitical tensions, while Ethereum has dropped to $1,900. Bitcoin Price Chart CASHCAT is one of the biggest losers today after the price dropped by 23% to $0.043 at the time of writing. The total market cap for Robinhood Chain meme coins is also down by 19% to $139 million. WLFI is among the top gainers in the crypto market after a 6% gain following the adoption of the USD1 stablecoin issued by World Liberty Financial by UFC Freedom Bonuses. Biggest Crypto News of The Day The BitMEX crypto derivatives exchange co-founded by Arthur Hayes is shutting down on September 23 after 11 years in the market. BITMEX token is down 90%, moving from $0.06 when the announcement was made to $0.005. BITMEX Token Crashes BitMEX also urged users to withdraw funds by the September 23 deadline or pay $50 each month as a monthly maintenance fee. Crypto Market Data The total crypto market cap is down by 0.46% to $2.23 trillion. Bitcoin: $64,996 (- 1.36%). Ethereum: $1,908 (-1.78%). XRP: $1.11 (- 2.37%. 24-hour volumes: $58 billion Bitcoin Dominance: 58% 24-Hour Liquidations: $207 million (Long liquidations: $151 million, short liquidations: $55 million). Fear and Greed Index: 31 (fear) What to Watch in the Crypto Market Today The CLARITY Act text released on July 22 will continue to spark debate from both Senate Republicans and Democrats due to the ethics provision Republicans want the DoJ to enforce the ethics rules within this bill, but the Democrats want the state Attorneys general to enforce the rules The views aired today could also affect the odds of the CLARITY Act bill passing in 2026 and move the crypto market. Investment disclaimer: The content reflects the author's personal views and current market conditions. Please conduct your own research before investing in cryptocurrencies, as neither the author nor the publication is responsible for any financial losses.
Ad Disclosure: This site may feature sponsored content and affiliate links. All advertisements are clearly labeled, and ad partners have no influence over our editorial content.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
1. Why is the crypto market down today?
The crypto market today is dropping as geopolitical tensions and new hurdles in the CLARITY Act weigh on price.
2. Which are the top movers in the crypto today?
The top movers in the crypto market today are CASHCAT, and BitMEX token that are down by 20% and 90%, respectively.
3. What is the biggest news in the crypto market today?
The biggest news in the crypto market today is the shutting down on the BitMEX exchange.
Related Articles
Top Picks: Project discovery & trends
About Author
About Author
Muthoni Mary is a seasoned crypto market analyst and writer with over three years of experience decoding blockchain trends, price movements, and market dynamics. She holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce (Finance) from Kenyatta University, blending a solid academic foundation with a sharp eye for technical analysis and a deep understanding of on-chain data. Her work delivers clear, data-driven insights that empower investors to navigate the fast-evolving digital asset space with confidence. When she’s not analyzing the markets, Mary enjoys reading and travelling.
BitMEX, the legendary crypto derivatives exchange that pioneered 100x leveraged perpetual swaps and reshaped the digital asset trading industry, is shutting down after more than 11 years of operations.
Cover image via U.Today
Legendary cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX has announced that it is shutting down.
HDR Global Trading Limited, the owner of the exchange, has "made the difficult decision" to close operations following a strategic review of the business.
The exchange has stated that it is "proud" of its legacy, which has surpassed 11 years.
HOT Stories
The cryptocurrency trading platform, which used to attract plenty of risk-seeking investors, is primarily known for inventing 100x leveraged perpetual swaps that ended up revolutionizing the industry. Today, nearly every major derivatives exchange, including Binance, Bybit, OKX, and Deribit, uses such contracts.
Its users generated exceptionally high trading volumes, and the exchange accounted for roughly 50% of the global futures open interest of its influence around 2019. The BitMEX liquidation cascade during the March 12–13, 2020 "Black Thursday" crypto crash was a pivotal event in crypto market history.
BitMEX's dominance began to rapidly erode in 2020 after U.S. regulators charged its founders, including CEO Arthur Hayes, with violating anti-money laundering rules. Competitors such as Binance Futures, Bybit, and FTX rapidly gained market share, chipping away at the exchange's massive dominance.
The exchange gained compliance cred while losing its influence. After his legal troubles, Hayes reinvented himself as a crypto macro commentator and investor and obtained a full pardon.
Funds are safe BitMEX has reassured investors that their funds are safe in its announcement. "We want to reassure you that your assets remain fully safe and under your control during this transition period. This announcement is just to give enough time to ensure a smooth withdrawal process for everyone," the exchange said.
You Might Also Like
Users have been encouraged to close their positions and withdraw their funds as soon as convenient.
CZ reactsBinance founder Changpeng Zhao has reacted to the wind-down by showing respect for Hayes.
Sad to see BitMex go. Some thoughts:
BitMex pioneered 100x perps in crypto back in 2014. Delivery futures existed before then, making Fridays hectic.
BTC deposits only, one chain only, withdrawals only once per day, through a multi-sig wallet. The constraints that seemed… https://t.co/8kP8byy37y
— CZ 🔶 BNB (@cz_binance) July 23, 2026 He claims that BitMEX did not survive the "war on crypto" from the previous admin.
Owner HDR Global Trading blamed a strategic review; users have until an Aug. 26 risk-limit cutover before positions get force-closed.
BitMEX will permanently shut down its exchange on Sept. 23, the crypto derivatives venue said on Thursday, telling users to close positions and withdraw funds before the deadline. Owner and operator HDR Global Trading Limited made the decision "following a strategic review of the business," according to the notice posted to BitMEX's official X account and its blog.
"We strongly encourage all users to close their positions and withdraw their funds as soon as convenient," BitMEX said, adding that user assets "remain fully safe and under your control during this transition period."
The exchange said it invented the 100x leverage perpetual swap, "now the most traded financial product in the crypto industry," and cited an 11-plus-year operating history. Arthur Hayes co-founded BitMEX in 2014. Hayes posted that he was "so proud of what we created and that we will shutdown responsibly on our own terms."
The BMEX token plunged on the news, down roughly 91% over 24 hours, with a circulating market cap near $540,000, per CoinGecko.
BMEX 24 hr price. Source: CoinGeckoWind-down timelineBitMEX will apply risk limits from Aug. 26 that block new positions and permit only reduce-only trades, and will force-close any positions still open ahead of the shutdown. Anything open at closure gets force-closed immediately. New account registrations stopped the same day as the announcement.
KYC'd users who fail to withdraw by the closure time will be charged a monthly account fee of $50 equivalent or 1% per annum, whichever is greater, on remaining balances. Withdrawals and login access will remain available after closure.
The exchange had been seeking a buyer since February 2025, when it retained Broadhaven Capital Partners to run a sale process; BitMEX did not disclose whether that process produced a bidder. BitMEX pleaded guilty in 2024 to violating the Bank Secrecy Act over an inadequate anti-money laundering program and was hit with an additional $100 million fine in January 2025. President Donald Trump pardoned the co-founders in March 2025.
PANews, July 24 – Blockchain data analysis platform Bubblemaps stated that after BitMEX announced its closure, its platform token BMEX fell sharply, currently down about 95% from its previous level. According to BitMEX’s publicly disclosed tokenomics, approximately 75% of the total BMEX supply was originally planned for employee incentives, ecosystem development, and long-term reserves, but these tokens have never been distributed on-chain.
Data shows that in 2021, about 92% of the BMEX supply was locked in vesting contracts, with the remaining 8% distributed at token launch, including: 5% for airdrops; 3% for product and liquidity support.
Each allocation category previously corresponded to a separate address for receiving future unlocked tokens. However, to date, only one claim has been recorded: on November 2, 2022, the product and liquidity address claimed approximately 63.75 million BMEX, while the addresses for employee incentives, ecosystem growth, and long-term reserves have seen no token claims.
Bubblemaps noted that this does not necessarily indicate a problem, as the project may have subsequently adjusted its tokenomics, contracts, or distribution plan without reflecting these changes on-chain. But according to the previously public BMEX tokenomics design, the tokens in these allocation buckets have not yet actually entered on-chain circulation.
BitMEX, co-founded by Arthur Hayes and others, pioneered the perpetual contract trading model, having a significant impact on the development of the crypto derivatives market. Following the announcement of the closure, market confidence in BMEX was noticeably shaken.
AMD saw a short-term drop of more than 5%, while Helios has entered full-scale production and is nearing shipment.
According to market data from BIT (bit.com), AMD (AMD.O) shares have fallen to an intraday low, currently down 4.72%, after earlier rising 0.66%. AMD CEO Lisa Su just announced the launch of the Helios AI server full rack, noting that Helios has entered full-scale production and will begin shipping soon; the MI450 AI accelerator will become the industry's highest-performance AI accelerator.
1 hours ago
SpaceX has released the live stream page for its 13th Starship flight, with today’s launch probability currently reported at 64%.
According to PolyBeats' monitoring, SpaceX has just released the official live stream page for its 13th Starship flight test, which lists the live stream start time as 6:14 AM (UTC+8) on the 24th. On prediction market Polymarket, the "yes" probability for the question "Will SpaceX launch Starship today (local time 23rd)?" is currently at 64%, while the probability of a launch this month stands at 91%. Starship Flight 13 previously aborted automatically roughly 1 second before clearing the launch pad on the morning of July 17. The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), in its latest operational plan released today, continues to list SpaceX’s 13th Starship flight test as a scheduled task for the day. Flight 13 is now targeted for launch as early as 17:45 local time in Texas, or 06:45 Beijing time on July 24, with a 90-minute launch window extending to 08:15 Beijing time. Real-time data from Next Spaceflight shows all 19 launch preparation conditions—including rocket testing, stacking, airspace notices, and maritime warnings—have been completed, with no new technical faults or delay announcements reported to date. --------------------------------- Be among the first to glimpse the future. Follow @PolyBeats_Bot See tomorrow, today. Follow @PolyBeatsEN
1 hours ago
Citrini’s view: Bullish on AMD, bearish on NVIDIA. Coding AI is eroding NVIDIA’s competitive moat from the software side, marking the end of its CUDA moat.
Citrini analyst Jukan, citing recent core views from DeepSeek founder Liang Wenfeng, pointed out that AI-driven code generation and high-level programming languages like TileLang are rapidly lowering entry barriers to the CUDA ecosystem. While DeepSeek uses NVIDIA GPUs to train its V3 model, it has significantly reduced its reliance on NVIDIA’s software ecosystem via its self-developed compiler and TileLang environment. Earlier, Liang projected that porting TileLang and DeepSeek’s compiler to Huawei chips would largely resolve China’s chip ecosystem issues in about a year, with production capacity being the only remaining bottleneck. Liang quantified the China-U.S. chip gap: hardware efficiency is roughly four times lower, and there is a roughly two-year time lag. He also revealed that DeepSeek is working closely with Huawei, expecting to obtain around 16,000 Huawei AI chips, and the Huawei 950 SuperNode can replace the workloads of NVIDIA’s GB200/GB300. Analyst Jukan characterized this as "the end of CUDA’s moat" and holds a highly bearish outlook on NVIDIA. Jukan added that this line of reasoning is precisely one reason for being bullish on AMD: advances in coding AI will also naturally accelerate the development of the ROCm ecosystem, helping narrow its gap with CUDA. When AMD recently invested in Anthropic, it announced it would actively use Claude Code for chip design and software engineering. Overall, advances in AI programming tools are systematically eroding NVIDIA’s competitive barriers from the software side. China’s chip ecosystem issues will be rapidly resolved thanks to code generation capabilities, while AMD will benefit from ROCm’s accelerated growth. The CUDA moat NVIDIA relies on to retain developer loyalty is facing a two-pronged attack, and catching up in hardware efficiency and production capacity is only a matter of time.
1 hours ago
AMD: AI Accelerator Market to Reach $1.4 Trillion by 2030
AMD CEO Lisa Su stated that the AI accelerator market is projected to reach $1.4 trillion by 2030. AI accelerators are specialized hardware designed for AI computing tasks such as matrix operations in deep learning, capable of processing massive parallel workloads with far higher efficiency and energy efficiency than traditional CPUs. Mainstream types include NVIDIA GPUs and custom ASICs from vendors like Broadcom, which serve as the core computing backbone driving large model training and inference.
1 hours ago
UK HMRC discloses crypto tax recovery results: More than £8 million recouped over two years.
The UK’s HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) has disclosed that since launching its special crypto tax compliance drive in November 2023, it has reached disclosure settlements with 502 crypto investors over the past two years, recovering more than ￡8 million in taxes, for an average settlement of roughly ￡16,600 per case. Of these, 280 settlements were recorded in the 2024/25 fiscal year involving ￡3.54 million, while 222 settlements in the 2025/26 fiscal year brought in around ￡4.78 million. Meanwhile, the number of "reminder letters" HMRC sent to crypto investors has surged sharply: 64,982 in the 2024/25 fiscal year, a 680% jump from three to four years earlier. As the UK joins the OECD’s Crypto Asset Reporting Framework (CARF), crypto service providers will be required to compulsorily collect and report user identity and transaction data to authorities starting January 2026, further limiting investors’ ability to conceal gains. Currently, around 8% of UK adults (approximately 4.5 million people) hold crypto assets.
1 hours ago
U.S. Trade Representative Greer is set to release a tariff announcement today.
U.S. Trade Representative Greer is set to release a tariff announcement today. Notably, the new tariff announcement is an extension of previous tariffs. Earlier, Trump said he would implement new tariffs on dozens of countries as soon as this week, and the current 10% global tariff is set to expire this week. The U.S. government is considering maintaining the 10% tariff rate for many countries, while exploring legal avenues to impose higher tariffs on others.
23 July 2026 | 19:48 BitMEX is seeing traders rapidly reduce their exposure after the exchange announced that it will shut down, with its native token and Bitcoin derivatives market both recording steep declines.
Key Takeaways The token reached its lowest level since November 2022. Bitcoin open interest on BitMEX has dropped to $113 million. Open interest has contracted by roughly 96% from its 2024 peak. At the time of writing, BMEX had fallen approximately 92% over the previous 24 hours, according to the BMEX/USDT chart on TradingView. The decline pushed the token to its lowest level since November 2022, when BMEX began trading.
BMEX/USDT daily technical chart showing recent sharp downward price action. The token’s collapse was accompanied by another sign of users leaving the platform. Bitcoin open interest on BitMEX fell to approximately $113 million, according to data shared by Alphractal.
Detailed recent view of Bitcoin open interest and price action on BitMEX. Open Interest Has Fallen From $3 Billion to $113 Million Alphractal’s longer-term chart shows that Bitcoin open interest on BitMEX stood near $3 billion at its 2024 peak. Two years later, only around $113 million remains, representing a decline of roughly 96%.
Macro chart tracking Bitcoin open interest against price on BitMEX through July 2026. The latest reading is also the lowest level visible on the multiyear chart. The sharpest recent move occurred immediately after the exchange confirmed its planned closure, although BitMEX’s derivatives market had already been shrinking before the announcement.
Open interest measures the total value of active derivative contracts that have not been closed or settled. Falling open interest can result from traders voluntarily closing positions, being liquidated or transferring their activity to another venue.
It should not be interpreted as $2.9 billion in customer losses. Instead, the decline shows how much less active Bitcoin derivatives exposure is now held on BitMEX compared with the exchange’s 2024 peak.
The Closure Accelerated the Exit BitMEX announced on July 23 that it will cease exchange operations on September 23 at 04:00 UTC. The platform will become reduce-only on August 26, after which users will no longer be able to open new positions and BitMEX may begin closing those that remain.
Our guide to the BitMEX shutdown deadlines explains when normal trading ends, what happens to open positions and why users should withdraw remaining balances before the final closure.
The timetable gives derivatives traders little reason to establish new exposure on the exchange. Positions intended to remain open beyond August face the risk of being closed during the wind-down, while comparable contracts remain available on other platforms.
BMEX Is Losing the Platform That Gave It Utility BMEX was designed around the BitMEX ecosystem, with its value tied to exchange-specific benefits such as fee discounts, rewards and other user incentives.
Once the exchange closes, much of that practical role disappears with it. The token is no longer being valued against the growth of an operating trading platform, but against an ecosystem entering its final wind-down. That helps explain why BMEX fell 92% in a single day and reached its lowest level since trading began in November 2022.
The shutdown accelerated the exit, but the longer-term chart shows that BitMEX’s role in Bitcoin derivatives had already weakened substantially before the closure was announced.
This article is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial or investment advice.
Author
Kosta has reported on cryptocurrency markets and blockchain infrastructure since 2020, bringing over six years of hands-on experience in the crypto industry built through daily tracking of markets, trends, and emerging blockchain developments. Specializing in Bitcoin on-chain analysis, institutional ETF flows, and digital asset price action, his work at Coindoo has been cited by other news agencies and consistently covers market developments with a focus on data-driven reporting across Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and XRP. Over the years, Kosta has contributed to multiple crypto media outlets in different regions, authoring over 6,000 articles across the sector. His reporting spans cryptocurrency markets and the broader fintech industry, tracking not only price action but also the technological and regulatory forces shaping the ecosystem. To support his analysis, Kosta actively leverages on-chain data and metrics from leading platforms such as Santiment, Glassnode, and CryptoQuant, enabling deeper, evidence-based market insights. He believes in the power of transparency and the data that underpins the blockchain ecosystem. His academic background in Marketing Management from Denmark further complements his analytical approach, adding a strong understanding of communication strategy and content positioning to his work.
