In a signficant development, BitMart is shutting its doors as a trading platform, with the exchange laying out a multi-stage exit plan that stretches from late July 2026 through early 2027.
As per the exchange, the process began at 01:30 UTC (Universal Time) on July 26, when the exchange cut off new user registrations, blocked both crypto and fiat deposits, and stopped accepting new spot orders.
Futures accounts were simultaneously switched to reduce-only status, meaning traders could close existing positions but not open new ones, and automated tools like copy trading, grid trading, and Application Programming Interface (API) access started being phased out, the firm noted.
The next major milestone lands on August 26, 2026, at 01:00 UTC, when spot trading, futures trading, and every other trading function on the platform will stop entirely. Any futures contracts still open at that moment won’t simply vanish, BitMart says it will settle them using whatever mark price, index price, or settlement method applies at the time, with fuller details to come in a later announcement.
Closing the trading engine doesn’t mean the platform disappears right away. BitMart intends to keep the broader service running in some form until 15:59 UTC on January 31, 2027, at which point trading-platform operations will be fully terminated. Even after that date, customers won’t be locked out entirely, the exchange says users will keep limited access to their accounts so they can pull up historical records and request withdrawals.
Customers are being told to shut down any open positions ahead of the August 26 trading halt and to have withdrawal requests in by 05:00 UTC that same day. As per the exchange, withdrawals themselves aren’t going anywhere, but users should expect possible delays tied to identity verification, source-of-funds checks, wallet-ownership confirmation, sanctions screening, and Travel Rule compliance, on top of any slowdowns from high volume or blockchain congestion.
Further, BitMart is also asking people to cancel pending orders and cash out of Earn, staking, or lending products while they still can. Anyone who doesn’t get funds out in the recommended window will be routed into a separate recovery process.
Meanwhile, BitMEX, one of the industry’s longest-running perpetual futures exchanges, announced on Thursday that it, too, is winding down, with a planned shutdown by September 23.
