Key facts
- Hong Kong-founded crypto exchange CoinEx will cease operations by December 22.
- The exchange cited a prolonged market downturn, shrinking trading volume and liquidity, and rising regulatory and compliance costs.
- New user registrations and referral rewards were halted immediately.
- Spot trading will cease on September 29.
- CoinEx will repurchase its native token, CET, at 0.005 USDT per token.
- CoinEx maintains reserves above 100%.
Hong Kong-founded cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx announced Tuesday that it will wind down its operations and services by December 22, 2026. The decision comes amid a prolonged downturn in the crypto market, which has led to shrinking trading volumes and liquidity, alongside increasing regulatory requirements and compliance costs.
CoinEx, established in December 2017 by mining pool ViaBTC, stated that founder and chief executive Haipo Yang acknowledged the platform's failure to become a top-tier industry player, with security concerns and regulatory challenges becoming unmanageable. The exchange reported that its reserve ratio surpasses 100% and that users will be able to withdraw their assets in full during the wind-down period.
The shutdown process is staged. New user registrations and referral rewards were halted immediately, and futures trading moved into reduce-only mode. On September 22, all non-spot services will cease. Spot trading will end on September 29, at which point CoinEx will repurchase all remaining CET tokens in user accounts at 0.005 USDT per token. The withdrawal period concludes on December 22, after which unclaimed USDT will be moved into independent custody, incurring a 5% monthly custody fee based on the original balance. Users have until August 22, 2028, to submit custody claims for these funds.
CoinEx joins a growing list of exchanges closing in 2026, including BitMEX, BitMart, and AscendEX, which have cited similar pressures of thinner volumes and heavier regulatory burdens. Since the start of 2026, nearly 100 crypto projects, including exchanges, DeFi services, and NFT marketplaces, have ceased operations.