BitMEX Sale Effort Failed Before Exchange Wind-Down

BitMEX’s attempted sale collapsed after potential buyers, including Exodus, walked away from discussions, CoinDesk reported, citing a person familiar with the matter. The exchange had explored a sale for about two years before announcing that it would wind down operations following a strategic review by parent company HDR Global Trading.

The failed process matters because it shows that crypto dealmaking remains selective even as mergers and acquisitions have picked up across the sector. According to CoinDesk, buyers were unwilling to treat BitMEX like a growth asset because its market share was declining and its business was shrinking.

Founder ownership was another obstacle. Although co-founders Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed had stepped away from the business after U.S. criminal charges were brought in 2020, they still controlled a large majority of the company, the report said. One potential buyer was uncomfortable with that structure, and the person familiar with the talks said it complicated negotiations because acquirers often want deal payouts tied to current executives remaining with the company.

BitMEX was once one of crypto’s most influential trading venues. It helped popularize the perpetual futures contract in 2016 with its XBTUSD perpetual swap, a product structure that later became central to crypto derivatives trading on major centralized and decentralized platforms.

The company announced on July 24 that it would stop accepting new account registrations and close on Sept. 23. CoinDesk also reported that BitMEX and Exodus did not respond to requests for comment by publication time, and that it was unclear whether formal bids had been submitted during a process in which BitMEX was reportedly seeking a valuation of about $1 billion.