An exchange from a bygone era: Why BitMart is leaving the market

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An exchange from a bygone era

Built for the crypto boom

When BitMart launched in 2017, the crypto exchange business was expanding almost as quickly as the market itself. Bitcoin was approaching its first mainstream bull market, initial coin offerings were attracting billions of dollars, and new trading platforms were appearing almost every month to serve a growing wave of retail investors.

BitMart entered a crowded market that included Binance, Huobi, OKEx, KuCoin and dozens of smaller competitors. Success often depended less on size than on how quickly an exchange could attract the next wave of traders.

Nearly nine years later, BitMart announced that it will gradually wind down its exchange operations, ending spot trading, futures and other services over the coming months. The company has advised users to withdraw their assets before the platform fully closes.

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The listing race

In those early years, new token listings were among the industry's most effective growth engines. Every successful listing generated trading activity, transaction fees and publicity, giving exchanges every incentive to move faster than their rivals.

For retail investors, the attraction was equally clear. The more assets an exchange listed, the greater the chance of discovering the next breakout project before it reached larger platforms.

BitMart built much of its reputation by listing smaller cryptocurrencies early. Like many exchanges of that generation, it relied on a constant pipeline of new tokens, supported by staking programs, launchpads, referral campaigns and trading competitions that kept retail users engaged throughout the DeFi and NFT boom.

Rapid expansion also exposed new vulnerabilities. In December 2021, hackers stole roughly $196 million from BitMart's hot wallets in one of the largest exchange breaches at the time. The company reimbursed affected users, but the incident came as security, transparency and operational resilience were becoming part of the competitive equation.

The market stopped rewarding speed

The collapse of FTX changed how both regulators and investors evaluated trading platforms. Proof of reserves, custody standards and cybersecurity suddenly mattered as much as product selection.

As the industry adjusted, Europe introduced its Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, spot Bitcoin ETFs brought new institutional capital into the market, and stablecoins became an increasingly important part of digital finance.

For the largest exchanges, adapting meant expanding compliance teams, pursuing regulatory licenses and investing in institutional services. Binance strengthened its compliance efforts, Coinbase deepened its institutional business, and Kraken continued expanding into regulated markets.

Not every exchange made the transition

Not every exchange adapted. Hotbit shut down in 2023, citing deteriorating operating conditions after years of market disruption. Voyager Digital entered bankruptcy during the 2022 downturn.

As smaller platforms disappeared, trading activity became increasingly concentrated among exchanges with greater liquidity, stronger balance sheets and broader regulatory footprints. That left the industry looking very different from the one BitMart joined in 2017.

The exchange business has changed

The first generation of crypto exchanges competed by listing more cryptocurrencies, launching promotions and attracting speculative traders. Increasingly, platforms compete on different strengths: regulatory approvals, custody services, cybersecurity, payment infrastructure and relationships with institutional investors.

That does not mean retail trading has disappeared. It means exchanges now need to appeal to a broader range of users than they did during the ICO and meme coin booms.

BitMart was built for a market where listing promising new tokens was one of the industry's strongest competitive advantages. Today's exchanges operate in a market where regulation, infrastructure and institutional relationships play a much larger role.

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