Crypto Bear Market Claims High-Profile Exchanges as Wall Street Takes Over

The cryptocurrency market is experiencing a wave of closures and restructurings, with several high-profile exchanges and projects shutting down or winding down operations. BitMEX announced that it will end exchange services on September 23, while BitMart plans to stop trading by August 26 and formally terminate its platform by January 31, 2027.

According to a recent post on X, dozens of crypto projects, exchanges, protocols, wallets, games, and analytics products have shut down or disappeared in 2026. The list includes Polygon's zkEVM Mainnet Beta sequencer, which stopped operating July 1 after a year-long notice period.

Balancer Labs is being wound down due to unsustainable revenue, but the Balancer protocol will continue as a decentralized entity. This raises questions about whether a decentralized protocol can survive without its incubating company.

The shutdown wave has spread across the industry, affecting exchanges, DeFi protocols, NFT platforms, and even crypto gaming companies. While some businesses ran out of sustainable economics, others cut product lines or retired technology in response to changing market conditions.

Despite the closures, institutional participation in tokenization is growing, with blockchain functions being adopted by traditional financial institutions. This trend weakens the narrative that crypto is dead and suggests that Wall Street is taking over the rails.