{ "title": "Crypto exchange shutdown and market exit tracker 2026", "description": "Announced crypto exchange closures, wind-downs and regional market exits in 2026, newest first, with staged timetables in UTC, withdrawal deadlines, penalty terms and current status. Maintained alongside the human readable tracker page.", "publisher": "CoinVast Research", "canonicalPage": "https://coinvast.io/articles/exchange-shutdown-tracker-2026", "dataUrl": "https://coinvast.io/data/shutdowns.json", "license": "CC BY 4.0", "licenseUrl": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/", "attribution": "CoinVast Research — https://coinvast.io/articles/exchange-shutdown-tracker-2026", "contact": "info@coinvast.io", "lastFullCheck": "2026-08-02", "updatePolicy": "Updated when a venue announces a closure or moves a published deadline. Every stage of a staged wind-down is recorded, not just the final date.", "methodologyNote": "Rows enter this log only when a closure is announced by the venue itself or reported by established outlets, and only when a date can be attached. Times are reproduced in UTC as published. Figures reported during an active wind-down can change and are revised here when they do.", "context": { "micaDeadline": "2026-07-01", "micaNote": "MiCA's transitional period ended 2026-07-01. Operating in the EU without full CASP authorisation is unlawful after that date.", "registeredEuFirmsBefore": 1200, "fullyAuthorisedCasp": 200, "projectsShutDown2026": 99, "projectsShutDownNote": "Tracking data compiled through 2026 counting exchanges, wallets, DeFi protocols, networks and tooling that shut down, went bankrupt or went inactive." }, "events": [ { "announced": "2026-07-26", "venue": "BitMart", "type": "wind-down", "yearsOperating": 9, "event": "Orderly wind-down of the trading platform. Registrations, deposits and new trading orders suspended at announcement.", "statedReason": "Operating conditions, market environment and future strategic direction", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-07-26T01:30:00Z", "milestone": "New registrations, deposits and new trading orders begin to be suspended" }, { "at": "2026-08-26T01:00:00Z", "milestone": "Deadline to complete identity verification and close all trading positions" }, { "at": "2026-08-26T05:00:00Z", "milestone": "Deadline to submit withdrawal requests; later requests face additional processing" }, { "at": "2026-08-26T15:59:00Z", "milestone": "All trading services discontinued" }, { "at": "2027-01-31T15:59:00Z", "milestone": "Operations officially cease; limited login access continues for a period" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": "2026-08-26T05:00:00Z", "userStatus": "winding down, withdrawal delays reported from 2026-07-29", "source": "BitMart cessation notice, 2026-07-26, plus contemporaneous reporting" }, { "announced": "2026-07-23", "venue": "BitMEX", "type": "closure", "yearsOperating": 11, "event": "Full closure of the exchange. New account registrations halted at announcement.", "statedReason": "Not attributed to a single cause in the notice", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-07-23", "milestone": "Closure announced; new registrations halted with immediate effect" }, { "at": "2026-08-26T04:00:00Z", "milestone": "Risk limits apply: reduce-only, no new positions may be opened" }, { "at": "2026-09-23T04:00:00Z", "milestone": "Closure. Any position still open is force closed" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": "2026-09-23T04:00:00Z", "postClosureAccess": "Users can still log in to view balances, check records and request withdrawals", "dormantBalanceFee": "USD 50 equivalent or 1 percent per annum, whichever is greater, billed monthly against the remaining balance for verified users who leave funds after closure", "operatorWarning": "The venue warned withdrawal requests will increase near the date, that extra security checks can slow processing, and that Bitcoin confirmation times add delay", "userStatus": "winding down", "source": "BitMEX closure notice, 2026-07-23; CoinDesk reporting" }, { "announced": "2026-07-01", "venue": "AscendEX", "type": "cessation", "event": "Ceased operations with no guaranteed fund recovery. On chain analysts had flagged stuck withdrawals and thin liquidity days earlier.", "statedReason": "Cited EU MiCA authorisation it never obtained, plus a failed liquidity deal", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-06-26", "milestone": "Analysts publicly flag stuck withdrawals and thin liquidity" }, { "at": "2026-07-01", "milestone": "Operations cease; withdrawals moved to manual review" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "ceased, recovery uncertain", "source": "Financial press and on chain analyst reports, read July 2026" }, { "announced": "2026-06-24", "venue": "Binance (EU)", "type": "market-exit", "event": "Withdrew its MiCA licence application through the Greek regulator, then stopped serving EU customers on 2026-07-01.", "statedReason": "MiCA authorisation not pursued to completion", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-06-24", "milestone": "MiCA licence application withdrawn via the Hellenic Capital Market Commission" }, { "at": "2026-07-01", "milestone": "Stopped serving EU customers; existing EU users moved to withdrawal-only access" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "exited the EU market, withdrawal-only for existing EU users", "source": "Regulatory filings and press coverage, June to July 2026" }, { "announced": "2026-02-05", "venue": "Gemini (UK, EU, Australia)", "type": "market-exit", "event": "Announced a full exit from the UK, EU and Australia.", "statedReason": "Regional wind down", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-02-05", "milestone": "Regional exit announced" }, { "at": "2026-03-05", "milestone": "Withdrawal-only mode begins for affected accounts" }, { "at": "2026-04-06", "milestone": "Account closures" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": "2026-04-06", "userStatus": "exited those regions; withdrawals were open during the window", "source": "Exchange announcement and press coverage, February 2026" }, { "announced": "2025-12-27", "venue": "Bit.com", "type": "wind-down", "event": "Wind-down began; spot trading ended and the platform moved to a withdrawal-only backup station.", "statedReason": "Exchange wind down", "timeline": [ { "at": "2025-12-27", "milestone": "Wind-down begins" }, { "at": "2026-01-31", "milestone": "Spot trading ends" }, { "at": "2026-02-01", "milestone": "Withdrawal-only backup station active" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "winding down, withdrawal-only", "source": "Exchange notices, December 2025 to January 2026" }, { "announced": "2026-01-25", "venue": "India, FIU registered venues", "type": "regulatory-halt", "event": "Registered exchanges halted privacy coin trading, deposits and withdrawals for XMR, ZEC and DASH. Bybit was fined 9.27 crore rupees in the same sweep.", "statedReason": "AML compliance", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-01-25", "milestone": "Privacy coin trading, deposits and withdrawals halted at registered venues" }, { "at": "2026-03-10", "milestone": "FIU clarified it had issued no formal delisting order; the halts stood anyway" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "privacy coin balances stranded on affected venues", "source": "Indian financial press, January to March 2026" }, { "announced": "2024-07", "venue": "WazirX", "type": "insolvency-recovery", "event": "Post hack restructuring. Recovery Tokens credited pro rata on 2026-01-09; they represent a claim on future value, not withdrawable funds.", "statedReason": "July 2024 hack and subsequent restructuring", "timeline": [ { "at": "2025-10-24", "milestone": "Trading resumed; eligible pre-hack users received an initial distribution" }, { "at": "2026-01-09", "milestone": "Recovery Tokens credited pro rata, not tradable or withdrawable" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "partial, ongoing", "source": "WazirX statements and recovery coverage, 2025 to 2026" }, { "announced": "2014-02", "venue": "Mt. Gox", "type": "insolvency-recovery", "event": "Creditor repayment deadline extended again, twelve years after the collapse.", "statedReason": "Bankruptcy estate administration", "timeline": [ { "at": "2026-10-31", "milestone": "Current extended repayment deadline" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "creditors still waiting", "source": "Estate notices and press coverage, 2026" }, { "announced": "2022-11-11", "venue": "FTX", "type": "insolvency-recovery", "event": "Bankruptcy estate continues distributions; many creditors are still waiting years later.", "statedReason": "Insolvency and fraud", "timeline": [ { "at": "2022-11-11", "milestone": "Bankruptcy filing" } ], "effectiveWithdrawalDeadline": null, "userStatus": "partial, ongoing", "source": "Bankruptcy filings and ongoing coverage" } ], "warningSigns": [ "Withdrawals take longer than the platform's own stated processing time", "Support answers become vague or templated", "Liquidity thins: spreads widen and large orders move the price more than before", "Marketing goes quiet and the blog or changelog stops updating", "Staff disappear from public channels", "On chain watchers report reserve wallets shrinking or consolidating" ], "userPlaybook": [ "Find the withdrawal deadline, which is usually earlier than the closing date, and convert it from UTC to your own time zone", "Move first and optimise later; the withdrawal queue and verification checks get worse near the deadline", "Complete identity verification before you need it, since several 2026 wind-downs made it a precondition of withdrawal", "Withdraw to a wallet you control rather than to another custodial exchange", "Export trade history and statements before interfaces are reduced after closure", "Treat any upfront-fee fund recovery offer as a second scam: no one can jump a bankruptcy queue or reverse a confirmed transaction" ] }