CoinEx will disappear on December 22, 2026, exactly nine years after its launch. The exchange began reducing its services on September 15 and is now asking its users to withdraw their funds. Spot trading will stop on September 29. CoinEx explains its decision by the prolonged weakness of the crypto market, the decline in volumes and liquidity, as well as by compliance costs that have become too heavy.
In brief
- CoinEx will permanently close on December 22, 2026.
- Spot trading will end on September 29.
- The exchange claims to have reserves greater than 100% of its clients’ assets.
CoinEx gives three months to its users
New registrations are already closed. Since September 15, CoinEx also no longer accepts new transactions on several services, including lending, staking or crypto margin trading. The schedule resembles that followed this summer by BitMEX, which announced its closure after eleven years of activity.
On September 22, CoinEx will shut down all its non-spot crypto market services. On-chain deposits will also be blocked, except for CET, the platform’s native token. A week later, on September 29, the spot will also stop. CoinEx Smart Chain and OneSwap to close on the same day. Users will then have almost three more months to withdraw their assets.
On December 22, withdrawals will be cut and the crypto platform will close. CoinEx opened on December 22, 2017. The date chosen therefore completes exactly nine years of operation.
CoinEx ensures that its reserves cover more than 100% of the assets held by its customers. This statement comes from the platform itself. Withdrawals must remain available throughout the closure period.
CET will be bought back at 0.005 USDT
The closure also raises the question of CET. The crypto platform has chosen a fairly direct solution: between September 15 and 29, the exchange will buy back its token at 0.005 USDT per CET, its initial listing price. No volume cap is planned. CETs still present on the accounts after this period will be automatically converted at the same price.
Founder and CEO Haipo Yang says he considered selling CoinEx. He ultimately said he preferred to stop the company rather than transfer the platform to a new buyer.
To explain this exit, CoinEx cites several problems at once: long-depressed market, declining volumes, lower liquidity and increasing regulatory requirements in several jurisdictions. Compliance costs and operational uncertainty would eventually exceed what the company deemed acceptable.
CoinEx, however, is not leaving after a few difficult months. The crypto exchange has weathered the bear market of 2018, the fall of 2022 and several periods of high volatility. It closes in 2026. And he’s not alone.
Exchange closures increase in 2026
BitMEX announced its departure in July. A few days later, BitMart also initiated the gradual closure of its platform. Bit.com had already started its own withdrawal before. CoinEx now joins the list.
More broadly, more than 100 crypto projects had already closed, filed for bankruptcy or ceased operations by 2026, according to RootData data reported in August. Exchanges, crypto wallets, DeFi protocols and blockchains are affected.
CoinEx is also trailing another recent case. In June, TRM Labs claimed to have identified $3.84 billion in flows between the exchange and several sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years. CoinEx had disputed the existence of commercial relations with the Iranian government or the platforms concerned.
The platform does not, however, present this affair as the reason for its closure. Its official announcement first talks about the crypto market, volumes, liquidity and compliance. For clients, the calendar is now more urgent than the reasons for departure: September 22 for the cessation of off-spot services, September 29 for the end of trading and December 22 for the last withdrawals. After this date, CoinEx will no longer be accessible.
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