Weekly Roundup: BitMEX to Shut Down; BDSwiss' Possible Exit

The past week marked significant developments across the brokerage and trading industry, with BitMEX announcing its platform shutdown, BDSwiss appearing to exit its offshore business, and several brokers reporting record trading volumes amid evolving regulatory landscapes.

BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange that popularised perpetual swaps, will cease operations on 23 September after an 11-year run. New account registrations have already stopped, and existing positions will move to reduce-only mode before the final closure. The exchange's decline follows years of US regulatory pressure, including penalties for anti-money laundering failures, as regulated domestic venues now offer similar perpetual products.

Meanwhile, BDSwiss appears to have taken its offshore retail business offline. The broker's global website no longer functions, new account registrations are disabled, and visitors are redirected to a login page branded as BDS Markets. The Seychelles licence remains active, but press contact emails bounced, and the development follows the withdrawal of the group's Cyprus licence, a corporate rebranding, and significant staff departures. Customer complaints continue to highlight withdrawal issues and disputed transfers.

On the positive side, CFI Financial Group reported its strongest first-half performance, with $5.34 trillion in trading volume for the six months to June 2026. Second-quarter volume reached $3.03 trillion, more than double the prior year. Metals generated the most activity, followed by equity indices, and mobile platforms dominated client transactions. CFI also secured regulatory approval in Brazil and expanded in the Gulf region, now operating through 15 regulated entities.

Industry-wide retail FX and CFD volumes eased 9.3% in the second quarter from record first-quarter levels, according to FM Intelligence, but remained historically strong. Data showed EC Markets and TMGM became the first brokers to exceed $2 trillion in average monthly volume. The report also noted that most large brokers now generate the majority of their volume from indices, commodities, equities and crypto rather than traditional forex.

Former Citadel Securities executives Bryan Seegers and Kevin Kimmel launched Epic Markets with a $10 million pre-seed investment from Karatage, planning a multi-asset brokerage platform focused on institutional-grade retail execution. The London Stock Exchange confirmed plans for a separate overnight trading venue launching in early 2027, initially covering ETFs. Regulatory developments included Vietnam fining individuals using unlicensed crypto exchanges from September, the European Commission extending feedback on MiCA's treatment of prediction markets and perpetuals, and the Financial Commission introducing a certification programme for prop trading firms.

The week's events underscored an industry balancing growth, regulatory pressure and structural change, with crypto derivatives maturing and traditional brokers adapting to new product demands and extended trading hours.