BitMart is the Third Exchange to Quit in a Month, and Its CEO Found Out From the Press

BitMart has become the third cryptocurrency exchange in a month to wind down trading, announcing an orderly shutdown that will end spot and futures trading by Aug. 26 and full operations by Jan. 31, 2027. The move, announced on July 26, came after former global CEO Nenter Chow said he had been fired two days earlier and had to learn about the shutdown from the public announcement.

BitMart stopped accepting new registrations, crypto deposits and fiat deposits at 01:30 UTC on July 26. Futures accounts were moved to reduce-only mode, spot markets stopped taking new orders, and automated services such as copy trading, grid trading and API trading were phased out. All remaining trading services end at 01:00 UTC on Aug. 26, and open futures positions at that point may be settled using the platform's mark price, index price or other established procedures. Withdrawals remain open but are subject to identity verification, security checks, sanctions screening and source-of-funds reviews.

Same Math, Different Venue

The shutdown follows AscendEX ceasing operations on July 1 and BitMEX announcing its own closure on July 23. BitMart cited "operating conditions, market environment and future strategic direction" as reasons and did not allege insolvency. The company had presented itself as growth-focused as recently as June 24, when it announced an Australian Financial Services Licence.

Chow said he was informed on July 24 that his employment was being terminated and offboarding would begin immediately. "I was not involved in the decision announced today, not consulted on it, and not informed of it. I learned of it when it became public," he wrote on X. He added that he has had no role in the company's management or decision-making since that date.

The BMX token fell 58% on the announcement day and was down roughly 81.5% over seven days, from near $0.31 to about $0.057, according to reports. BitMEX's BMEX token fell more than 90% after that exchange's shutdown news. Moonrock Capital co-founder Simon Dedic was quoted as saying the "extraction model has a fatal flaw: it needs a steady supply of victims. When those dry up, so does the business."

Analysts see a common structural cause for the three exits: mid-tier exchanges squeezed between compressing trading fees and rising compliance costs, particularly under Europe's MiCA framework. Crypto analyst 0xvietnguyen counted more than 30 crypto projects affected by closures in 2026. BitMart has warned users about impersonation scams during the wind-down and said employees will not ask for passwords, private keys or payments for faster processing.