CoinEx Calls Time After Nearly Nine Years as Crypto Market Pressure Mounts

CoinEx is preparing to shut down its platform after nearly nine years as the weakness across the crypto market has made operations increasingly difficult.

The exchange said the broader industry has seen a significant contraction in trading volume and liquidity. It also cited rising regulatory requirements across major jurisdictions alongside higher compliance costs and operational uncertainties that it considers beyond reasonable boundaries.

Market Pressure Mounts

The wind-down process begins on September 15, 2026, and will follow a gradual schedule. Users can still withdraw funds from the platform until December 22, 2026. CoinEx’s decision also highlights the pressure facing established exchanges as the crypto industry moves through further maturity and consolidation.

BitMart and BitMEX also announced closures in July after operating since 2017 and 2014, respectively.  The pressure was spread across more corners of the crypto industry this year. DEX aggregator Odos wound down operations on July 30. Dango stopped running its L1 blockchain on August 13. Storj Labs filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

Previous Setbacks

Long before announcing its shutdown, CoinEx had faced its share of problems. Earlier this year, TRM Labs found over $3.84 billion in blockchain transactions between the exchange and sanctioned Iranian entities over more than seven years. TRM said CoinEx was the largest external counterparty of Nobitex.

More than $2.7 billion reportedly moved between the two platforms since late 2018. The report also linked it to over 60 Iranian crypto businesses. TRM further identified around $67 million from Iran’s central bank that reached CoinEx through a complex laundering structure between June 2025 and June 2026. Its founder, Haipo Yang, acknowledged that Iranian customers widely used the exchange but denied any relationship with the country’s government.

CoinEx also rejected claims that it knowingly helped sanctions evasion. While pushing back on the report’s findings, the exchange said Iran blacklisted it in 2021 and that it had never maintained an office there. It even questioned TRM’s volume calculations. Its troubles were not limited to regulatory scrutiny.

Back in 2024, the exchange suffered a $70 million hack after its hot wallet keys were compromised. The Lazarus Group was later reported as responsible. In 2023, it agreed to pay more than $1.7 million after a New York lawsuit.