BitMEX Founder Arthur Hayes Announces Shutdown of Cryptocurrency Exchange

Arthur Hayes, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX, has announced the closure of the platform, which was once the world's largest exchange by trading volume. The shutdown, set to take place on September 23, 2026, has already sent the exchange's BMEX token crashing 90% in value. Hayes, a former derivatives trader at Deutsche Bank and Citigroup, founded BitMEX in 2014 with British mathematician Ben Delo and American developer Samuel Reed. The platform gained fame for its perpetual swap product, which allowed for up to 100 times leverage and no expiry date.

BitMEX reached a record daily trading volume of $16 billion in June 2019, but its success was short-lived. In October 2020, the US Department of Justice charged Hayes and his partners with violating the Bank Secrecy Act, alleging that they knowingly served thousands of American clients without functioning anti-money-laundering controls. Hayes, Delo, Reed, and the company's former manager Gregory Dwyer pleaded guilty in February 2022, with Hayes receiving a $10 million fine and six months of home detention.

However, in a surprising twist, former US President Donald Trump pardoned all four convicted men in March 2025, calling it a 'correction of a miscarriage of justice.' Hayes expressed gratitude, while Delo hailed the pardon as a vindication of their innocence. The closure of BitMEX marks the end of an era for the cryptocurrency market, which was once dominated by the platform's innovative products.