Four star projects exited within a month; why did BitMEX and others fall in the winter of 2026?

Tao Zhu, Jinse Finance

Summary:Recently, established exchanges BitMEX and BitMart have successively announced their impending closure. Coupled with Storj and Movement Labs entering bankruptcy reorganization proceedings, this undoubtedly adds another layer of chill to the current crypto winter.

According to CoinGecko data, BitMEX has a trust score of 7 out of 10, with a 24-hour trading volume of $20,500; BitMart has a trust score of 6, with a 24-hour trading volume of $1.79 billion.

I. Closure of Established Exchanges

1. BitMEX, the Pioneer of 100x Leverage Perpetual Contracts, Bows Out

On July 23, 2026, the established exchange BitMEX issued an announcement regarding its impending closure: It will officially close on September 23, 2026 at 04:00:00 UTC (closing time). In its announcement, BitMEX stated: "Founded in 2014, BitMEX's mission is simple: to provide everyone with a professional-grade cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform. BitMEX pioneered 100x leveraged perpetual contracts, the most traded product in the cryptocurrency industry, now used by tens of thousands of users and exchanges. During its 11 years of operation, there have been no user losses due to hacking or theft." BitMEX cited the following reason for closure: "This decision was made after a strategic assessment of the company's business and the broader cryptocurrency industry." According to Kaiko Research analyst Thomas Probst, "The cryptocurrency exchange market is extremely competitive, and BitMEX's closure may indicate that large exchanges will continue to dominate, while smaller or emerging exchanges will face squeezed survival space." Given BitMEX's small market share, its closure may have a limited impact on the market. BitMEX was founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed. In 2020, BitMEX was accused of failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering measures. Shortly after these criminal charges, Hayes, Delo, and Reed resigned. BitMEX had its moments of great prominence: in July 2018, its daily trading volume reached a record high of $8 billion, exceeding 1 million bitcoins (worth over $8 billion at the time). It reached its operational peak during the crypto market expansion of 2019, processing over $1 trillion in transactions. It accounted for approximately 57% of the global crypto derivatives market in terms of annual trading volume. Affected by the shutdown, the price of BMEX plummeted, and as of press time, it was trading at $0.002898.

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2. BitMart Collapsed at the Dawn of the Next Eight Years

On July 26, 2026, BitMart also issued a shutdown announcement.. Just a week before BitMart issued the announcement, it had released its first-half report and outlined its plans for the second half of the year.

On July 26, 2026, BitMart also issued a shutdown announcement. BitMart's global CEO was still planning the next eight years, but just days later, BitMart collapsed, falling at the dawn of its next eight years. According to BitMart's announcement: **Starting August 26, 2026, at 9:00 AM (UTC+8), BitMart will cease spot, futures, and other trading services. BitMart plans to officially cease trading platform operations on January 31, 2027, at 11:59 PM (UTC+8).** The reason BitMart cited for the shutdown was: **"After a careful assessment of the company's operating conditions, market environment, and future development direction, BitMart has decided to orderly cease trading platform operations."** Following the announcement, Global CEO Nathan Chow stated on X that the company informed him on July 24 that his employment would be terminated and that resignation procedures would begin immediately. Since then, he "has not participated in any management or decision-making within the company," and his opinion was not sought regarding the company's liquidation; he only learned of the matter after it became public. The company did not give him a definite final departure date. In its first-half report released on July 20th (https://img.jinse.com.cn/7495226_watermarknone.png) outlined BitMart's focus for the first half of 2026, in addition to spot and futures trading, the company highlighted its expansion in asset management, payments, prediction markets, and the Web3 ecosystem. While BTC fell by approximately 33%, BitMart's assets under management grew by approximately 256%. BitMart's product roadmap for the second half of the year will focus on RWA and yield stablecoins, prediction markets, on-chain/DEX integration, compliance and permission depth, payment and stablecoin utility, AI-native platform experience… Chow is planning for the next eight years: "BitMart is eight years old this year. We plan to continue to grow over the next eight years and are working towards that goal." Just a month ago, BitMart also announced that it had obtained an Australian financial services license and plans to expand its compliance, legal, and operational capabilities in the country. At that time, the company stated that its services covered more than 13 million users in over 180 countries and regions. All plans for the next eight years came to an abrupt end with the shutdown announcement. Affected by the shutdown, the price of BMX plummeted, reaching $0.05821 as of press time. [Image of BMX file] 3. Decentralized storage project Storj embarks on restructuring. In addition to the two major exchanges mentioned above, the decentralized storage project Storj will also undergo restructuring. On July 27, 2026, Storj announced its financial restructuring in an article published on X. According to Storj's official announcement: July 26, 2026 – Storj Labs, Inc. today filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, case number 5:26-bk-00512 (Bk NDWVa.). Storj's Chapter 11 reorganization application aims to resolve certain legacy liabilities while maintaining Storj's continued business operations. Founded in 2014, Storj is one of the earliest projects in the Web3 storage field and a veteran DePIN project. Its initial goal was to utilize idle hard drive space globally to build a lower-cost, more secure cloud storage network without a central server, competing with traditional cloud storage services such as Amazon S3, Google Cloud Storage, and Microsoft Azure. Affected by the restructuring news, Storj's price plummeted 15.8%, closing at $0.06262. Besides the three crypto companies mentioned above, Movement Labs also filed for bankruptcy protection this month. For details, please see "Movement Labs Files for Bankruptcy Protection: How Market Maker Scandals Ruin Star L2"

II. This Crypto Winter is More Like a Stock Elimination Phase

Previously, the crypto market experienced several rounds of frenzied expansion. Compared to the ICO bubble burst in 2018 and the liquidity crisis triggered by the FTX collapse in 2022, this wave of shutdowns is more like a stock elimination phase after the industry has entered a mature stage.

First, in this crypto winter, market share is concentrating on leading giants. Around 2018, BitMEX was almost synonymous with the crypto derivatives market, but now, BitMEX's glory has faded. Currently, derivatives trading volume is highly concentrated on leading trading platforms such as Binance and Hyperliquid.

These platforms not only possess deeper liquidity and a richer product portfolio, but also continuously invest in compliance, stablecoin payments, on-chain transactions, and AI trading tools, creating increasingly higher competitive barriers. BitMart faces similar predicaments, directly competing with stronger rivals such as Binance, Coinbase, OKX, and Robinhood. Against the backdrop of an overall industry downturn, traditional trading businesses continue to be under pressure and ultimately cannot sustain themselves. Secondly, from 2020 to 2022, a large influx of VCs entered the crypto industry, and many projects, even without mature business models, were able to maintain operations through continuous financing. However, in 2024, conflicts and a wave of rights protection actions emerged between project teams and VCs; 2025 saw a data precipitous drop. According to Galaxy Research data, crypto financing in the second quarter of 2025 plummeted by 59% quarter-on-quarter to $1.97 billion, marking the second lowest point since the end of 2020; data from early 2026 shows that the number of new funds established by pure crypto VCs reached its lowest level since 2020. The retreat of venture capital has led many projects to proactively cut costs, lay off staff, scale back product lines, and even pursue bankruptcy reorganization to clear historical debts. Storj, mentioned above, faces its biggest obstacle not in its business itself, but in debt inherited from its previous development phase. It hopes to restructure its balance sheet through Chapter 11 to create conditions for future growth. Movement Labs, on the other hand, entered bankruptcy protection due to a collapse in trust following a market-making scandal and a lack of capital support. It's also noteworthy that many projects in this wave of shutdowns are established, having weathered multiple bull and bear market cycles, yet failing at the industry's maturity stage. BitMEX and Storj, for example, were founded 12 years ago, and BitMart has witnessed eight years of industry boom and bust. Compared to the direct liquidation of previous crypto projects, many have chosen legal procedures like Chapter 11 for reorganization, indicating that their businesses still have value and they hope to retain their teams, customers, and products to continue operating after clearing historical debts. Storj is an example of this. From the perspective of the exchange sector, compared to the previous crypto winter with its collapses, network outages, sudden halts in withdrawals, and even founder disappearances, the exit methods of this round of projects are significantly more standardized. For example, after FTX's collapse in 2022, the entire crypto market was in chaos, and its compensation process remains unresolved even four years later (Note: the fifth round of repayments is scheduled to begin on July 31, 2026). In this cycle, BitMEX and BitMart both announced detailed exit timelines in advance, clearly specifying the timelines for ceasing registration, trading, deposits, and the final closure of the platform, while allowing ample time for fund withdrawals to ensure users can complete their fund migration as much as possible. Although closure itself is still a business failure, the aftermath has evolved from a sudden collapse to a more gradual exit. In conclusion, the fact that four star projects have closed or entered bankruptcy reorganization within a month is indeed lamentable. For the crypto industry, this is a harsh winter, a reshuffling, and a survival-of-the-fittest competition. Projects lacking user base, profitability, and market trust, even with a glorious past, are unlikely to escape a quiet exit.