BitMart halts trading on 26 August: get your balance out
The exchange is closing after nine years. Trading stops on 26 August 2026 at 01:00 UTC, with 05:00 UTC as the advised deadline for withdrawals. The platform shuts down for good on 31 January 2027. Users are already reporting delayed withdrawals.
BitMart announced on 26 July 2026 that it is closing after nine years. Its own token BMX fell roughly 58% within 24 hours, to around 8 cents, cutting its market value to some 27 million dollars (about €23.6 million). Over the past year the token was already down around 70%.
The official timeline
According to BitMart's own notice, the first step already took effect on 26 July 2026 at 01:30 UTC: no new registrations, no crypto or fiat deposits, futures switched to reduce-only and no new spot orders. On 26 August 2026 at 01:00 UTC all trading stops. The platform advises closing positions and submitting withdrawals before 05:00 UTC that same day. Final termination is set for 31 January 2027 at 15:59 UTC; after that, account access remains for a limited period for history and withdrawal requests.
BitMart cites operating conditions, the market environment and its strategic direction as the reason. It offers no further explanation.
Withdrawals are already sticky
This is the part that matters to users. The Crypto Times reported on 29 July 2026 that multiple users are reporting stalled withdrawals: confirmation emails without a matching on-chain transaction, messages about an on-chain withdrawal freeze, and small test amounts sitting pending for hours. Lookonchain figures showed that in the first 24 hours after the announcement only 58 wallets withdrew a combined 805,000 dollars (about €704,000), with eight-hour stretches without a single processed transaction. Over those same days BitMart's holdings fell from around 102 million dollars to around 69 million dollars (about €89.3 million to €60.4 million).
BitMart says withdrawal channels are open and attributes the delays to extra manual checks: identity verification, device and IP checks, risk assessment of the withdrawal address, source-of-funds questions and sanctions screening. The firm speaks of compliance volume, not of a shortfall.
What this means for you
If you hold a balance at BitMart, do not wait for the deadline. Anyone starting at four in the morning UTC on 26 August joins the back of a queue at its longest, with a manual review in front of it. Withdraw now, in stages, and expect to need verification documents and a statement on the source of your funds. Pick a withdrawal address at a provider you already use and that holds a European authorisation itself, so the address clears the risk check. If you are in a futures position: you can only close it, not extend it. And save your transaction history before access closes at the end of January 2027, because you will need it for your tax return.
Sources: BitMart (official notice on the orderly cessation), CoinDesk (26 July 2026), The Crypto Times (29 July 2026), Lookonchain. Last checked: 6 August 2026.