CoinEx Closes Doors After Nine Years Amid Shrinking Revenue and Compliance Costs

Crypto exchange CoinEx is shutting down after nine years in operation due to shrinking revenue and rising compliance costs. The centralized platform cited these challenges as reasons it could no longer remain viable, despite its efforts to become one of the industry's leading exchanges.

'Revenues can decline, responsibility does not,' said founder Haipo Yang in a statement. 'Carrying unlimited risk for limited revenue is no longer a rational choice.'

CoinEx will wind down operations in stages: spot trading stops on September 29, withdrawals close on December 22, and other products such as margin trading, loans, Earn, and staking are being phased out.

The exchange's closure follows similar moves by BitMEX, which is terminating its exchange services on September 23 after more than 11 years in operation, and AscendEX, which ceased normal operations in July due to financial and operational pressures.

Crypto trading activity has become increasingly concentrated among the biggest exchanges. Binance processed a record $1.83 trillion during August, capturing nearly 43% of all trading across CoinMarketCap's cohort, while OKX followed with $681.3 billion, MEXC with $469.5 billion, Bybit with $410.3 billion, and Gate with $314.7 billion.