CoinEx has begun an orderly shutdown that will end trading on Sept. 29 and close withdrawal channels on Dec. 22, 2026, marking the exit of a long-running cryptocurrency exchange that once said it served more than 10 million users. The company cited a prolonged market slowdown, weaker trading activity and liquidity, and increasing regulatory and compliance costs as reasons for winding down its exchange business.
The platform said withdrawals remain available and that it is not filing for bankruptcy. CoinEx also published wallet-reserve figures showing assets valued at about $430 million and reserve ratios above 100% for major tokens, although users now face a fixed timetable to move assets off the platform before withdrawal services close in December.
The wind-down covers CoinEx’s trading platform, CoinEx Smart Chain and the decentralized exchange OneSwap. CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault, a custody-focused product for institutional users, are set to continue operating. ViaBTC, the mining pool founded by CoinEx founder Yang Haipo, has not announced any changes to its operations.
Trading services will close in stages
CoinEx began the process on Sept. 15 by ending new account registrations, referral rebates and reward distributions. It also placed derivatives markets into Reduce-Only mode, meaning users can close or reduce existing positions but cannot increase their exposure.
The exchange stopped accepting new orders and subscriptions for a series of non-spot services, including fiat-related products, margin trading, crypto lending, wealth-management products, staking and strategy trading. These steps are designed to prevent fresh liabilities from accumulating while customers unwind positions.
On Sept. 22, CoinEx plans to terminate its remaining non-spot businesses and halt on-chain deposits. CET, the platform’s native token, will remain eligible for deposits until Sept. 29.
Spot trading is scheduled to end on Sept. 29. CoinEx said it would then begin processing assets other than USDT that remain in accounts, though customers seeking greater control over the assets they receive would likely want to withdraw or trade their balances before the deadline rather than wait for the platform’s processing arrangements.
CET holders face a separate deadline. CoinEx said users will have a period to sell CET manually with zero trading fees before the closure of spot markets. Any CET left in customer accounts will be automatically repurchased at 0.005 USDT per token, with no stated cap. The fixed rate gives users a clear fallback, but it may differ from prices available in the market before trading ends.
Withdrawal channels are due to remain open for nearly three months after spot trading stops. CoinEx has set Dec. 22, 2026, as the final date for withdrawals and the end of trading-platform operations. Customers with open balances will need to ensure their withdrawal addresses, authentication tools and account-access details are available well before that date.
An exchange founded in 2017 exits after a difficult decade
Yang Haipo founded CoinEx on Dec. 22, 2017, after establishing the ViaBTC mining pool. CoinEx grew during a period when smaller offshore exchanges sought to compete through broad token listings, derivatives products and localized access across multiple markets.
The company previously said it supported more than 1,000 crypto assets in over 200 countries and regions. That reach also exposed the business to increasingly fragmented regulatory requirements, including restrictions on serving certain jurisdictions and higher expectations around customer verification, transaction monitoring and sanctions compliance.
CoinEx’s explanation for the closure points to the financial pressure created when lower trading volumes meet the fixed costs of operating a regulated global exchange. Liquidity can weaken as fewer active users trade, which can make markets less attractive and further reduce fee revenue. Compliance systems, legal support and jurisdiction-specific licensing obligations do not fall as quickly when activity slows.
The company has not said that any single investigation, enforcement case or security incident caused the wind-down. Its public explanation instead frames the decision as a commercial response to sustained operating pressures.
Past enforcement and security incidents shaped CoinEx’s record
CoinEx had previously withdrawn from the United States after a case brought by the New York State Attorney General’s Office in 2023. The matter resulted in about $1.8 million in penalties and refunds, along with the platform’s agreement to block New York users and cease operating in the state.
Later that year, CoinEx reported abnormal transfers from several hot wallets, leading to losses of roughly $70 million. Blockchain security firms examining the movement of stolen funds attributed the attack to North Korea-linked Lazarus Group, based on transaction patterns and wallet flows.
CoinEx subsequently rebuilt its wallet system and resumed deposits and withdrawals. The incident placed the platform among several major crypto businesses that have faced the operational consequences of maintaining online “hot” wallets, which are connected to the internet and used to process customer transfers.
A more recent set of reports raised questions about CoinEx’s exposure to transactions connected with Iran. The Wall Street Journal reported in June 2026 that investigators tracing funds from a February 2025 Lazarus theft of about 400,000 ETH, then valued at roughly $1.5 billion, identified a portion moving through wallets controlled by Iran’s central bank. Some funds later reached CoinEx after passing through multiple addresses, according to the report.
TRM Labs data cited by the Journal showed more than $2.7 billion in flows between CoinEx and Iranian exchange Nobitex since 2018. The report said the flow reached $763 million in 2025 and described CoinEx as Nobitex’s largest overseas counterparty during that period. It also cited cumulative flows exceeding $3.84 billion between CoinEx and more than 60 Iran-linked entities over seven years.
CoinEx said it had restricted Iranian user access and would conduct an internal review into transactions connected with the stolen-funds case. The Journal reported no direct evidence that CoinEx knowingly assisted money laundering.
Users face practical deadlines
CoinEx’s long withdrawal window reduces the immediate risk of a sudden loss of account access, but the schedule gives users little reason to delay routine account management. Customers with balances need to assess whether to trade into an asset they want to withdraw, transfer funds to an external wallet, or use another regulated service available in their jurisdiction.
Users with automated trading tools, recurring purchases, API-linked bots or open derivatives positions also need to review those arrangements as the service closures take effect. Transaction histories and account statements may be useful for tax reporting and record-keeping once the exchange’s core platform is no longer operating.
The shutdown removes one of the older mid-sized global exchanges from active trading markets, while leaving its wallet products and the ViaBTC mining business outside the announced closure. For CoinEx customers, the immediate issue is more practical: spot trading ends this month, while the ability to withdraw assets expires on Dec. 22, 2026.
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