BitMEX spent two years exploring a sale with multiple prospective buyers, including competitor exchanges and payments platform Exodus, but failed to secure a deal before deciding to wind down operations last month. According to a source familiar with the discussions, the company was seeking a valuation of around $1 billion during the process, although it remains unclear whether formal bids were ever submitted. The exchange announced on July 24 that it would wind down operations following a strategic review by its parent, HDR Global Trading, and immediately halted new account registrations ahead of its planned September 23 closure. As reported by crypto.news, the sale process began in February 2025 with investment bank Broadhaven Capital Partners advising the Seychelles-based exchange, though the investment bank had reportedly joined the process in late 2024.
Potential acquirers were particularly put off by BitMEX's founder-led ownership structure, despite co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed having long since stepped away from the business after U.S. criminal charges were brought against them in 2020. As reported by CoinDesk, one prospective buyer was uncomfortable that the co-founders still controlled a large majority of the company, making negotiations more difficult because buyers typically want part of the acquisition payout to encourage executives to stay with the company after the deal closes. The structure concerned at least one prospective buyer and made negotiations more difficult because the founders remained major owners without operating the exchange, according to the source familiar with the matter.
The company's deteriorating financial performance compounded concerns about the ownership structure. BitMEX continued to lose market share throughout the sale process as trading activity migrated to larger centralized exchanges and decentralized perpetual futures platforms. Monthly futures volume had exceeded $100 billion during parts of 2021 but declined to between $25 billion and $30 billion in late 2024, according to figures previously cited by The Block. This made potential acquirers reluctant to pay the revenue multiple typically reserved for growing businesses, as reported by CoinDesk. The exchange's declining business made it difficult to justify a growth valuation, as reported by CoinDesk.
The failed sale stands in contrast to a broader rebound in crypto dealmaking, with 144 announced mergers and acquisitions worth $11.8 billion so far in 2026, up 3.5% from the same period last year according to advisory firm Architect Partners. Unlike many recent targets, BitMEX entered the market with declining market share, lingering legal baggage and an ownership structure that complicated a deal. The exchange was one of crypto's most influential exchanges, pioneering perpetual futures contracts in 2016 with its XBTUSD perpetual swap, which revolutionized crypto derivatives trading and accounts for the vast majority of crypto derivatives volume on other exchanges. Hyperliquid recorded about $2.6 trillion in notional trading volume during 2025, nearly double Coinbase's $1.4 trillion, according to Artemis data.
The exchange is now facing a lawsuit alleging it withheld traders' collateral and engaged in insider trading. The complaint claims that the co-founders designed the platform to retain customer collateral while transferring excess bitcoin, adding to the company's legal and reputational challenges that made it difficult to attract potential buyers during the sale process. BitMEX pleaded guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act after authorities accused it of operating without an adequate anti-money laundering program. Its co-founders also pleaded guilty before receiving presidential pardons in 2025. The exchange now faces a proposed U.S. class action alleging that it profited from forced customer liquidations, with plaintiffs seeking the return of 622.66 BTC plus damages, though the claims remain allegations and have not been proven in court.
