BitMart Exchange Shutdown 2026
Summary
On July 26, 2026, BitMart announced an orderly wind-down of its trading platform after nine years of operation, halting all trading by August 26 and closing fully by January 31, 2027. The announcement was accompanied by immediate withdrawal delays reported by users, a collapse of the native BMX token exceeding 58% intraday, and the disclosure that the outgoing Global CEO had been terminated two days before the announcement without being consulted. BitMart's stated rationale — citing only 'operating conditions, market environment, and future strategic direction' — provided no specificity, and on-chain data revealed limited reserve liquidity and near-zero large-transaction processing in the days following the announcement.
Connected Entities
1 entities · 10 linked investigations- + 3 more
Timeline(13 events)
2021-12-05
BitMart suffers $196 million hot-wallet hack via stolen private key; CEO Sheldon Xia confirms breach and pledges user compensation.
CoinDesk / CNBC2023-10-01
BitMart loses UK Financial Conduct Authority authorization; the exchange is no longer permitted to offer services to UK residents.
Webopedia BitMart Review 20262025-04-01
Nenter Chow appointed as BitMart Global CEO; founder Sheldon Xia transitions to Group President role.
The Block2025-05-01
BitMart issues statement promising Proof of Reserves publication 'at an appropriate time'; no report is subsequently published.
NullTX — Proof-of-Reserves Gap analysis2025-07-09
Security researchers identify an alleged BitMart zero-day exploit listing and a purported user database of 1.2 million records being sold on a cybercrime forum; BitMart does not confirm.
LinkedIn / BeforeBreach2026-07-01
AscendEX announces immediate closure, becoming the first major exchange casualty of the July 2026 wave.
Koinly on X2026-07-23
BitMEX announces wind-down with a final operations date of September 23, 2026, days before BitMart's announcement.
CryptoTicker2026-07-24
Nenter Chow is informed his employment as BitMart Global CEO is being terminated and his offboarding will begin immediately — two days before the public announcement.
The Block / Blockhead2026-07-26
BitMart publicly announces orderly wind-down. New registrations, deposits, and orders suspended at 01:30 UTC. BMX token crashes approximately 58–66% intraday. On-chain analysis shows only 58 wallets withdraw $805,000 in the first 24 hours.
CoinDesk / Lookonchain / CryptoTimes2026-07-27
Paxi Network publicly demands BitMart release all user and market maker funds. Scandic Coin reports a 35-hour-old withdrawal still marked 'Processing' covering 22,000 USDT and 930,000 SNC. Nansen reports wallets have fallen from ~$102M to ~$69M.
CryptoSlate / Chainwire2026-07-29
Continued user complaints of withdrawal delays documented; community reports of $3.7 million in collectively frozen funds across approximately 27 users.
CryptoTimes2026-08-26
Scheduled: All trading services cease at 01:00 UTC. BitMart urges withdrawal requests to be filed by 05:00 UTC.
BitMart official announcement2027-01-31
Scheduled: Full platform closure. BitMart states withdrawals will remain available until this date.
BitMart official announcementDecision Log
- #1publish⛓ pending7/31/2026, 11:12:23 PMhash: CcYuYzsxr7HMjPtWFqdVVEAx6W3PBQWYLuaqN7JCzsoG
22 of 23 cited source URLs have an Internet Archive snapshot.
model: claude-sonnet-4-6
generated: 7/31/2026, 11:12:16 PM
last updated: 8/1/2026, 6:09:09 AM
avoid.net — verified advice for a post-truth world