Crypto exchange CoinEx announced on September 15 that it will cease operations after nine years, closing on the same calendar date it launched in 2017. The Seychelles-based exchange cited the prolonged market downturn, shrinking industry trading volume and liquidity, and rising regulatory requirements and compliance costs that it said had exceeded reasonable boundaries.
New user registrations stopped the same day. Withdrawal services remain open until December 22, 2026, while most exchange functions wind down on a staged timeline before then. CoinEx said it maintains an asset reserve ratio of over 100%, with all user assets fully backed and available for withdrawal.
CoinEx Founder and CEO Haipo Yang addressed the decision directly on X.
"After much reflection, I have come to accept a hard truth," Yang wrote. "The security and compliance risks of running a crypto exchange have become increasingly difficult to contain."
He said he considered selling the platform but chose against it.
"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: making sure users can withdraw their assets in full, giving my employees a dignified farewell."
Dear CoinEx Community,
— Haipo Yang (@yhaiyang) September 15, 2026
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…
What happens to funds users don't withdraw in time
The wind-down follows a specific sequence. Futures markets entered reduce-only mode on September 15, meaning traders could only close existing positions. By September 22, non-spot services including margin trading, loans, earn products, and staking ceased entirely, with any remaining positions forcibly settled by the platform. Spot trading services stop on September 29, at which point non-USDT assets with liquidity in external markets get sold and converted to USDT, credited to users' spot accounts.
Assets with no external market liquidity face permanent delisting, with CoinEx explicitly stating it "will no longer assume responsibility for the custody or redemption of such assets" for anything not withdrawn to an external wallet before that date.
After the December 22 withdrawal deadline, any remaining USDT moves into independent custody. CoinEx will charge a monthly custody fee of 5% of the original asset balance, calculated as of the end of the withdrawal period. Users have until August 22, 2028 to file claims for those custodied assets before CoinEx disposes of them according to applicable law.
CoinEx's regulatory history in the US market
CoinEx exited the US market in 2023 after settling a lawsuit filed by the New York attorney general, which had accused the exchange of operating without proper registration. That settlement removed CoinEx from one of the world's most heavily scrutinized crypto regulatory environments years before this shutdown announcement.
New York's BitLicense framework, established in 2015 under the state's Department of Financial Services, has functioned as one of the strictest state-level crypto licensing regimes in the country. Exchanges operating without a BitLicense or equivalent registration in New York face enforcement action regardless of where they are headquartered, provided they serve New York residents. CoinEx's 2023 settlement placed it in a group of offshore exchanges, including several others that faced similar New York enforcement actions around the same period, that chose to exit the US market entirely rather than pursue the licensing and compliance investment required to operate there legally.
The Iran-linked transaction flows TRM Labs identified
Earlier in 2026, TRM Labs published a report alleging that CoinEx had processed more than $3.8 billion in flows linked to Iranian entities since 2019, including activity tied to Nobitex and other sanctioned counterparties.
Nobitex is Iran's largest cryptocurrency exchange and has been the subject of multiple sanctions actions and security incidents. In June 2025, a pro-Israel hacking group calling itself Gonjeshke Darande, or Predatory Sparrow, breached Nobitex and destroyed approximately $90 million in assets rather than stealing them, a rare example of a hack motivated by disruption rather than theft. The group had previously targeted Iranian state infrastructure, including fuel distribution systems, as part of what researchers characterized as a broader campaign tied to Israeli-linked cyber operations against Iran. TRM Labs' identification of CoinEx flows connected to Nobitex places CoinEx within a network of exchanges that sanctions enforcement and blockchain intelligence firms have scrutinized as part of Iran's broader effort to use cryptocurrency to route around the US financial blockade, a pattern separately documented in Iran's use of Tether and Bitcoin mining to sustain trade under sanctions pressure.
Neither CoinEx nor Yang addressed the TRM Labs findings directly in the shutdown announcement or Yang's personal statement. The stated reasons for closure centered on market conditions and compliance costs generally rather than any specific enforcement action tied to the Iran-linked flows.
Security warnings during the wind-down period
CoinEx warned users to expect impersonation attempts during the cessation process, stating it will never ask for private keys, passwords, or verification codes, and will never request a transfer of assets for the purpose of "unfreezing," "compensation," or "airdrops." The exchange said the September 15 announcement is its final one, and any subsequent "supplementary rules" or "policy adjustments" issued in CoinEx's name should be treated as fraudulent.
CoinEx Wallet and CoinEx Vault, described as business services independent of the exchange platform, are not affected by the shutdown and will continue operating under their existing terms.
Yang closed his statement by addressing both his team and the exchange's users directly.
"To the CoinEx team: crypto never sleeps, and neither did you. For nine years, you kept the systems running, supported users, and built this platform's story," he wrote. "And to everyone who traded with us, thank you for choosing CoinEx and being part of this journey."
Roman Zaika
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