Banks Take the Helm as Crypto Exchanges Close Shop

BitMEX and BitMart are two crypto exchanges that have announced their closure this year. BitMEX, which launched the first perpetual futures contract for cryptocurrency, will shut down on September 23 after 11 years in operation. BitMart plans to wind down by January, according to Jean-Marie Mognetti, co-founder, president and CEO of CoinShares.

But despite this, Mognetti believes that this is not a collapse of the blockchain industry, but rather a 'sorting' process. He argues that blockchain was never intended to replace the traditional financial system, but rather its plumbing or back-end infrastructure. Banks are now building on top of this infrastructure, and investors are increasingly turning to regulated exchange-traded funds (ETFs) for exposure to cryptocurrency.

One example of this is Hyperliquid, a decentralized derivatives exchange that has seen 54% of its trading volume come from real-world assets such as stocks and commodities. This marks a significant shift away from cryptocurrency trading on the platform, with single stocks accounting for 61% of this volume.