Key Takeaways:
- CoinEx is going to close on 22nd December 2026 after 9 years of operation.
- Weak market conditions, diminished liquidity and compliance costs were cited as reasons for the exchange.
- All customer funds are fully backed, and users can withdraw assets until December 22, CoinEx says reserves are kept at a level above 100%.
CoinEx is winding down its exchange business after nearly a decade in the crypto industry, marking another high-profile exit during a period of tighter regulations and lower trading activity across the sector.
The exchange announced that it will gradually discontinue services starting September 15, with all operations ending on December 22, 2026.
— CoinEx Global (@coinexcom) September 15, 2026
CoinEx Begins Orderly Shutdown Process
According to the company, the decision followed a review of market conditions and operational challenges facing centralized exchanges.
CoinEx cited the long crypto winter, the overall market slowdown, shrinking liquidity, and rising regulatory hurdles in key jurisdictions as reasons. These contributed to unsustainable operational costs and regulatory uncertainty, the company said.
Different from the sharp exchange failures observed in the previous market cycles, CoinEx is taking a planned approach to wind down. The platform has said customer funds are backed by over 100%. Users will be able to withdraw at any time during the process of transition.
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Key Dates Users Need to Know
The shutdown will be done in stages. On September 15, CoinEx stopped new user registrations and disabled referral reward distributions. Futures markets moved into reduce-only mode, with no new activity happening in the margin trading, loan, staking, earning products, and strategic trading services.
All non-spot products will be sold out on September 22nd. In addition, crypto deposit services will end, apart from CET deposits which will be available until September 29.
CoinEx will completely close all spot trading on 29th September. Additionally, the platform will end CoinEx Smart Chain (CSC) and OneSwap activities.
CET Buyback and Withdrawal Arrangements
Lastly, the rollout plan includes an exchange’s native token, CET. CoinEx stated that it will purchase any CET units the users did not redeem before the token’s listing at 0.005 USDT per token. The buyback is unconditional, no quantity limit.
As blockchain congestion and network fees may rise as the end of the scheduled shutdown approaches, the company is promoting users to finish up withdrawals as early as possible.
What Happens After December 22?
CoinEx will officially terminate its operations and withdraw channels on December 22. Users that do not withdraw USDT in time will receive a disjointed custody platform transfer. After the end of the withdrawal period, CoinEx announced that a monthly custody fee of 5% of the initial balance will be charged.
Claims for assets held in custody can be submitted until August 22, 2028. CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault will remain unaffected from exchange shutdown and operate separately.
The closure comes amid growing pressure on smaller and mid-sized crypto exchanges. Trading is increasingly focused on a handful of major platforms and regulatory standards are rising throughout the world, making it more difficult to run a competitive exchange business. CoinEx is an example of the many long-established exchanges reconsidering their role as the market for cryptocurrencies evolves so quickly.
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