CoinEx announced its shutdown after nine years of operation, blaming the shrinking crypto market

CoinEx announced the cessation of trading business: Phasing out due to market downturn and compliance pressure

CoinEx, a cryptocurrency exchange launched by ViaBTC Mining Pool in December 2017, announced that it is gradually reducing its trading business due to shrinking trading volume and declining liquidity due to long-term market downturn. The platform said in an announcement released on Tuesday that the continued decline in market activity, coupled with increasing regulatory and compliance burdens, has made operations increasingly difficult.

Phased arrangements for business exit

The shutdown of CoinEx will be carried out in a phased manner: first, new user registrations will be stopped, then transactions in the derivatives market and spot market will be gradually restricted, and finally asset withdrawal will be completed at the end of the specified withdrawal window. In addition, the exchange plans to buy back its CET tokens at the price they first listed-which is 0.005 USDT per CET token.

Summary of Key Points

• Stopping new services: CoinEx will suspend new user registrations, reward issuance and referral commission payments as part of its business contraction.
• Futures trading adjustments: Contract trading will be switched to the "Reduce-Only" mode, and the exchange will stop accepting new orders or subscriptions for multiple non-spot and related services.
• Spot trading termination: Starting from September 29, CoinEx will stop spot trading services and process non-USDT assets.
• Final shutdown date: By the end of the withdrawal window on December 22, the platform will officially cease operating; the remaining USDT that has not been withdrawn will be transferred to an independent custodian and a monthly custody fee will be charged.
• Wallet service retention: CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will continue to operate normally as they operate independently of the exchange.

Orderly exit from exchange services

CoinEx described its decision as an acknowledgement of the reality that the platform is struggling to reach the size of a leading trading venue and compliance and security risks are becoming increasingly difficult to control. According to a statement issued by CoinEx CEO Haipo Yang, the company accepted the so-called "cruel truth" and pointed out the reality of operations and the broader risk characteristics of operating a crypto exchange.

According to the plan in the announcement, CoinEx will first stop new user registrations, referral commissions and other rewards. At the same time, futures contracts will enter a "lightening-only" mode, a common structure typically used by exchanges during periods of business contraction, designed to limit further leverage building while allowing existing positions to be closed.

CoinEx also announced that it will stop accepting new orders or subscriptions for fiat, margin trading, lending, earning, pledge and strategic trading services. This actually freezes most activities except pure withdrawals, and aims to guide users to exit in an orderly manner rather than continuing to expand the scale of the product.

Time nodes that traders and depositors need to pay attention to

公司的关停时间表包含几个详细步骤。自9月22日起，CoinEx表示将停止所有非现货服务和链上充值，CET充值的例外情况表明，在业务收缩的早期阶段，CET将是唯一支持的代币流向，这可能反映了交易所通过回购解决CET持有者问题的计划。

自9月29日起，CoinEx将终止所有现货交易服务并处理非USDT资产。对于平台上的用户而言，这一点至关重要，因为它标志着平台从面向市场的交易平台向托管与赎回阶段的转变，此时的活动更多涉及结算和提现，而非交易。

最后，平台指出提款期将于12月22日结束，届时平台将停止运营。任何用户未提取的USDT将被转移到独立托管方，后者将收取月度托管费。这一细节对于用户是否选择立即提现还是等待至关重要，这意味着即使交易平台本身停止运营后，成本仍可能持续存在。

CET回购与代币持有者权益

CoinEx表示将以每枚CET代币0.005 USDT的首次上市价格回购CET。公告补充称，这一水平略高于周一（公告发布前）CET的价格。虽然回购机制旨在在退出过程中解决代币持有者的问题，但用户仍需关注赎回的具体方式和时间，特别是在交易所部分功能可能在最终提款截止日期前暂停的情况下。

值得注意的是，公司计划在9月22日之后仅允许CET充值，这进一步强化了CET在业务收缩剩余代币相关活动中的核心地位，至少在早期阶段如此。

CoinEx的关停符合行业更广泛的趋势

CoinEx的退出加入了今年早些时候报道的一系列交易所失败和关停案例，包括BitMart、BitMEX和AscendEX。在CoinEx的公告中，原因被归结为市场状况和结构性压力的结合：在加密市场低迷期间，交易量和流动性恶化，而合规和安全成本据报道也在同时增加。

这种组合对用户和市场参与者尤其重要，因为它表明了维持交易所可行性的条件正在发生变化。即使拥有成熟品牌，如果订单簿长期变薄，收入降低，而合规工作量和风险管理需求持续增加，平台也会陷入困境。

CoinEx的方法——逐步减少产品、将期货转为仅减仓、停止新订单，然后最终结束现货交易和提现——反映了对冲操作风险并管理用户退出的常见业务收缩方案。尽管如此，对交易者的实际影响是，流动性和平台功能可能会分阶段收缩，这使得头寸管理和提现规划具有时间敏感性。

剩余可用服务

CoinEx said its CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will continue to operate fully normally because they operate independently of the exchange. For users, the difference is significant: It suggests that even if exchange trading is closed, certain related services may continue to operate, reducing the need for users to immediately rebuild or transfer assets-although the company's subsequent timetable still shows that exchange withdrawals will ultimately be the main exit route until December 22.

As CoinEx schedules advance, the key question facing users is whether CET recharge, asset processing and withdrawal processing can proceed smoothly as announced-especially during the interruption of spot services on September 29 and the end of withdrawals on December 22. These dates are likely to determine how quickly users need to act to avoid last-minute hosting transitions or the costs associated with stranded USDTs within the platform.