BitMEX token crashes 90% as exchange announces shutdown

[Update, 15:18 UTC, July 23 – Adds comment from cofounder beginning in sixth paragraph.]

BitMEX’s utility token lost almost all of its value after the exchange announced Thursday it would wind down operations.

The BitMEX (BMEX) token plunged 90% to as low as $0.002 from $0.06, according to CoinGecko data. It traded at $0.0063 at the time of writing.

The token, which had traded near $0.06 in recent weeks, began falling at around 7:00 am UTC, roughly an hour before BitMEX announced the shutdown on X.

Source: CoinGecko

BitMEX announced the closure after its share of the Bitcoin futures market fell to about 0.08%, with roughly $84 million in daily Bitcoin futures trading volume, according to CryptoQuant CEO Ki Young Ju.

“It was a great exchange that helped shape the industry, and now it is passing the torch to the next generation of exchanges it inspired,” Ju said in an X post on Thursday.

Later Thursday, BitMEX cofounder Arthur Hayes said in an X post: “It was an amazing ride. We did something special together.”

Blockchain analytics platform 10x Research said in an update shared with Cointelegraph that BitMEX’s owners had explored a potential $1 billion sale in 2025 before choosing an orderly wind-down.

The decision came less than a year after BitMEX marked its 11th anniversary in November 2025, celebrating its role in creating the perpetual swap, a type of futures contract with no expiration date.

Related: SecondFi to wind down after $2.6M ADA theft linked to wallet flaw

“BitMEX’s closure is not an isolated event. It is the latest in a series of structural corrections playing out across the digital asset industry as the competitive landscape compresses, regulatory costs rise and the margin for operational inefficiency narrows,” Roshan Dharia, a restructuring advisor and CEO of investment firm Echo Base, told Cointelegraph.