BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange that popularized the perpetual swap, closed for good at 04:00 UTC on Wednesday, Sept. 23, after 11 years. Its last spot markets had already stopped trading on Sept. 21. The website stays open for logins and withdrawals, but new deposits will not be credited, BitMEX said on X.

Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed launched BitMEX in 2014. Its owner, HDR Global Trading, announced the closure in July, citing “a strategic review of the business and the broader crypto industry.” “There are no legal or regulatory issues associated with the closure,” the company says on its support site.

Withdrawals and Fees

Customers can pull funds through BitMEX’s website. BitMEX told users on Sept. 3 that API withdrawals would keep working through 04:00 UTC on Sept. 28. A support-center page updated on Sept. 23 lists them as already disabled and says USDT, USDC and ether can go out only over the Ethereum network. BitMEX said it is phasing in security steps for withdrawals, which can include refreshing identity checks, sending a test transaction and waiting through a cooldown.

BitMEX said on X on Wednesday that account fees of 1% a year or a $50 equivalent, whichever is greater, charged monthly on verified accounts, “now apply,” and its Telegram channel said the same. A support-center page updated the same day gives Oct. 1 as the start date for those accounts, says fees also apply to accounts that have not completed identity checks, and says the rates can change. BitMEX said in July that the fee would rise over time on balances left in place.

BitMEX says customer assets are held apart from its own. Its support center also warns that any message offering priority or accelerated withdrawals is “quite likely to be a scam.”

The Celsius Lawsuit

Separately, the Celsius bankruptcy estate is seeking at least 6,360 BTC, worth more than $530 million at Wednesday’s prices, from HDR Global Trading and four affiliates. Its complaint, filed Sept. 12 in federal bankruptcy court in New York as part of Celsius’s Chapter 11 case, accuses BitMEX of fraud over two liquidations on March 12 and 13, 2020, one of Celsius itself and one of a fund whose claims Celsius now holds. The estate alleges the exchange used its control of margin requirements, liquidation prices and its liquidation engine to manipulate bitcoin markets and push prices down, generating revenue at its own customers’ expense. The court has not ruled on any of the claims.

Another exchange, CoinEx, said on Sept. 15 that it will close for good on Dec. 22.

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