CoinEx to Shut Down After Nine Years, Sets December Withdrawal Deadline

TL;DR

• CoinEx is shutting down after nine years, citing market, liquidity, security and compliance challenges.

• The exchange stopped accepting new registrations on September 15 and will end most services on September 29.

• Customers have until December 22 to withdraw their assets from the platform.

• Remaining assets may be converted to USDT and moved to independent custody, carrying a 5% monthly fee.

Cryptocurrency exchange CoinEx has announced that it will shut down after nine years of operation, citing difficult market conditions, declining liquidity, and growing compliance costs.

The Seychelles-based platform stopped accepting new user registrations on September 15. Most of its trading and exchange services will end by September 29, while customers will have until December 22 to withdraw their assets.

CoinEx said it intends to give users sufficient time to remove their funds before the platform closes completely.

CoinEx Sets Deadlines for Customer Withdrawals

Under the shutdown schedule, most CoinEx services will become unavailable after September 29. Any assets that remain on the exchange after that date may be converted into Tether’s USDT stablecoin.

Customers can continue withdrawing their funds until December 22. After the December deadline, any remaining USDT will be transferred to an independent custody provider. The custodian will charge a monthly fee equal to 5% of the account’s original balance.

Users whose funds enter independent custody will have until August 22, 2028, to submit a claim. The substantial monthly fee means customers who delay withdrawing could see their remaining balances decline rapidly.

CoinEx attributed its closure to several challenges facing centralized cryptocurrency exchanges.

The company cited the prolonged market downturn, declining industry-wide trading activity, and shrinking liquidity. It also pointed to increasingly demanding regulatory requirements and the rising cost of maintaining compliant global operations.

CoinEx founder and CEO Haipo Yang said the risks associated with operating a cryptocurrency exchange had become increasingly difficult to manage.

“After much reflection, I have come to accept a hard truth,” Yang wrote on X. “The security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain.”

Dear CoinEx Community,

Today, I am announcing that CoinEx will cease operations and begin an orderly wind-down.

First, what matters most: your assets are safe. CoinEx’s reserve ratio exceeds 100%, and every user asset is fully backed and available for withdrawal. Withdrawals…

— Haipo Yang (@yhaiyang) September 15, 2026

CoinEx Founder Rejects Sale in Favor of ‘Clean Ending’

Yang said he considered selling CoinEx but ultimately decided that closing the platform was the more responsible option.

The executive said he wanted to ensure that customers could withdraw their assets in full while also providing employees with a dignified departure.

“Nine years, millions of users. I did not turn CoinEx into the ‘great’ exchange I once hoped it would become,” Yang said. “But I can give it a decent ending.”

The exchange reported serving customers across more than 200 countries and regions during its operating history.

CoinEx previously exited the US market in 2023 after settling a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general. The lawsuit accused the platform of operating without the required registration.

The exchange faced further scrutiny earlier this year when blockchain intelligence company TRM Labs alleged that CoinEx had processed more than $3.8 billion in transactions linked to Iranian entities since 2019.

According to the report, some of those flows involved Nobitex and other sanctioned counterparties.

The allegations added to the regulatory and compliance pressures facing the exchange before its decision to close.