CoinEx gives customers 98 days to empty a solvent exchange
Founder Haipo Yang said he considered selling CoinEx and decided against it, and the exchange he is closing instead says its reserve ratio is still above 100 percent with customer assets fully backed.
The Investor · Invest desk
What happened
- CoinEx said it will cease operations and close the exchange on December 22, 2026, nine years to the day after it went live in 2017.
- The wind-down started on September 15, when new account registrations and referral payouts stopped and futures trading moved to reduce-only, so open positions could be closed but not opened.
- Non-spot services shut on September 22, spot trading ends September 29, and withdrawals close for good on December 22.
- BitMEX said it would shut down after 11 years and BitMart followed days later, ending its own nine-year run, making CoinEx the third exchange to fold this year.
Why it matters
- What it costs cost A depositor who misses the December cutoff is charged 5 percent of the original balance every month against a claims process that runs into 2028.
- What it sets up precedent The uncapped buyback at the listing price sets an expectation for the next mid-tier venue that closes: token holders get their entry price back, and the timetable is published weeks ahead.
- What doesn't add up contradiction CoinEx puts the closure down to compliance load and weak markets, and none of the three accounts connects that explanation to TRM Labs' June allegation of sanctioned Iranian flows, which the exchange denied.
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"The security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain," Yang wrote on X [7]. The Hong Kong-founded exchange [4] is shutting the centralised trading venue while CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault, described as separate businesses, keep operating [16]. Yang did not say whether he received an offer.
From September 15 to September 29, CoinEx will repurchase CET at 0.005 USDT, the price the token listed at, with no cap on volume, and convert leftover balances at the same rate [8]. A holder who bought at that listing in 2017 gets the original USDT back and nothing for the nine years since [21]. Yang said he wanted a "clean ending" for the platform's staff, users and token holders [6].
The exit runs 98 days [20], and 84 of them are withdrawal-only [18]. The last withdrawal goes out at 02:00 UTC on December 22, 2026 [5]. After that, leftover USDT moves into independent custody charged monthly at 5 percent of the original balance, and claims may still be possible into 2028 [15]. Twenty of those monthly charges consume the whole balance, so a deposit left behind is exhausted by about August 2028 [19].
The venue was small. Reported 24-hour volume around the announcement was in the tens of millions of dollars, well under the largest global exchanges [13], and Yang said the platform never reached the top tier of global exchanges [10]. TRM Labs alleged in June that more than $3.8 billion had flowed between CoinEx and dozens of sanctioned Iranian platforms over seven years, a claim the exchange denied at the time [22]. Spread evenly, that is roughly $543 million a year [23] through a book turning over tens of millions a day.
The company's stated reasons are reduced trading activity, thinner liquidity and steadily rising compliance burdens across major markets [12], with the company describing those costs and uncertainties as having moved beyond a workable range [11]. Nikkei reported the same pressures, thinning trading volume and more onerous regulatory requirements straining digital asset exchanges [4]. The less flattering version is that a sub-scale order book stopped covering its fixed costs and that compliance is the part CoinEx chose to publish. The uncapped bid at par for CET argues against that reading: an operator short of cash does not offer to buy its own token back without a limit. CoinEx said the announcement is its final official notice under its name and that any later statements using the brand should be treated as fraudulent [17].
What to watch
- Whether the uncapped CET buyback at 0.005 USDT clears through September 29 without a volume limit being added.
- Whether any regulator acts on the alleged Iran-linked flows while CoinEx still holds customer assets before December 22.
- Whether the next mid-tier venue to exit publishes a dated schedule and a token buyback, or finds a buyer.
Information, not investment advice. This story is general information about companies and markets, drawn from cited reporting. It is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any security; check the cited sources before acting.
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- [1]
CoinEx said Tuesday it will cease operations and begin an orderly wind-down, closing the exchange on Dec. 22, nine years to the day after it went live in 2017.
- [2]
The wind-down began on September 15, 2026, when CoinEx stopped accepting new accounts, ended referral payouts and other rewards, and moved futures trading to reduce-only.
- [3]
Non-spot services shut down Sept. 22, spot trading ends Sept. 29, and withdrawals close for good on Dec. 22.
- [4]
Nikkei Asia reported that Hong Kong-founded CoinEx said on Tuesday it will begin to wind down its operations and services, as thinning trading volume and more onerous regulatory requirements strain digital asset exchanges.
- [5]
Users have until 02:00 UTC on December 22, 2026, to withdraw funds.
- [6]
Yang said he seriously considered selling CoinEx but decided against it, wanting a "clean ending" for the platform's staff, users and CoinEx token holders rather than handing the exchange to a new owner.
- [7]
"The security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain," Yang wrote on X.
- [8]
From Sept. 15 through Sept. 29, CoinEx will buy back CET at 0.005 USDT, its original listing price, with no cap on volume, then automatically convert any remaining balances at the same rate.
- [9]
CoinEx said its reserve ratio sits above 100%, meaning user assets remain fully backed throughout the process.
- [10]
Founder Haipo Yang said the platform never reached the top tier of global exchanges and that the security and regulatory risks of running a centralized venue had become harder to manage.
- [11]
Officials described those costs and uncertainties as having moved beyond a workable range, prompting an orderly exit rather than a sale or prolonged struggle to stay open.
- [12]
CoinEx said it reached the decision after reviewing the industry's reduced trading activity, thinner liquidity, and steadily rising compliance burdens across major markets.
- [13]
CoinEx's reported 24-hour trading volume was in the tens of millions of dollars around the time of the announcement, far below the largest global exchanges.
- [14]
BitMEX announced it would shut down its operations after 11 years, and BitMart followed days later, winding down its own nine-year run.
- [15]
After the December 22 deadline, leftover USDT is slated to move into independent custody, with a monthly fee equal to 5 percent of the original balance; claims on remaining assets may still be possible into 2028.
- [16]
Related products such as CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault were described as separate businesses that will continue operating.
- [17]
The company stressed that this announcement is its final official notice under the CoinEx name and warned that any later statements using the brand should be treated as fraudulent.
- [18]
From the end of spot trading on September 29 to the withdrawal cutoff on December 22, 2026, CoinEx spends 84 days holding customer assets without matching a trade.
- [19]
A monthly custody fee of 5 percent of the original balance consumes the whole balance in 20 months, which from the December 22, 2026 deadline runs to about August 2028, inside the period in which claims may still be possible.
- [20]
The published wind-down runs 98 days, from its September 15, 2026 start to the December 22, 2026 withdrawal cutoff.
- [21]
Because the buyback price of 0.005 USDT equals CET's original listing price, a holder who bought at the 2017 listing recovers the original USDT with no gain over the nine years the token existed.
- [22]
TRM Labs alleged in June that more than $3.8 billion had flowed between CoinEx and dozens of sanctioned Iranian platforms over seven years, a claim the exchange denied at the time.
- [23]
The $3.8 billion TRM Labs alleged moved between CoinEx and sanctioned Iranian platforms over seven years averages about $543 million a year.
Sources
3 independent publishers whose own reporting we read for this story.
- asia.nikkei.comHong Kong-founded crypto exchange CoinEx to shut down - Nikkei Asia
1 article · September 15, 2026
- crowdfundinsider.comDigital Asset Exchange CoinEx to Close After Nearly a Decade Due to Weak Crypto Markets and Rising Costs
1 article · September 15, 2026
- decrypt.coCrypto Exchange CoinEx Is Shutting Down After Nine Years, Giving Users Until December to Cash Out
1 article · September 16, 2026
Topics and entities
Topics
- Crypto compliance and sanctions screening
- Exchange shutdowns and wind-downs
- Crypto Exchanges