Digital asset trading platform CoinEx has revealed plans to close down following a nine-year run, pointing to business challenges.
As stated in its announcement, the trading venue will halt new user sign-ups beginning September 15, while user withdrawals will stay accessible until December 22. Most platform operations will wrap up by September 29.
Any funds left unwithdrawn past September 29 might be liquidated into USDT. Following December 22, the remaining USDT on the service will be transferred to an external custodian that will impose a monthly maintenance charge amounting to 5% of the starting total. The final date to submit custody claims is August 22, 2028.
In a Monday statement, the Seychelles-registered platform pointed to the extended bear market, decreasing sector activity and liquidity, alongside growing regulatory obligations and compliance expenses as the primary drivers behind the choice.
Hard truth
CoinEx Founder and Chief Executive Officer Haipo Yang shared on X, “After deep consideration, I have come to accept a hard truth.” He added, “The security and regulatory dangers of operating a digital asset trading platform have grown excessively hard to manage.”
Yang further noted that he thoroughly weighed the option of disposing of the venue but ultimately chose not to because he aimed for a “clean ending.”
In Yang’s words, “Nine years, millions of users. I failed to transform CoinEx into the ‘great’ marketplace I once dreamed it would be.” He continued, “Yet I can provide it with an honorable conclusion: ensuring clients can pull out their funds entirely, while offering my staff a respectful goodbye.”
Despite catering to clients across more than 200 nations and territories, CoinEx exited the United States sector back in 2023 after reaching a settlement in a legal action brought by the New York attorney general, which claimed the company functioned without correct licensing.
Earlier in the year, TRM Labs released a study stating that CoinEx handled over $3.8 billion in transactions connected to Iranian groups starting from 2019, incorporating transactions associated with Nobitex and additional blacklisted entities.
Originally published at https://www.theblock.co/news/business/2026-09-15-coinex-shut-down-414788.
