BitMEX sale collapsed as buyers balked at founder ownership and shrinking business

Crypto exchange BitMEX announced its decision to wind down operations in July 2025, having failed to reach a sale agreement despite exploring options for over two years with various potential buyers. Prospective acquirers, including competitor exchanges and payments platform Exodus, were deterred by BitMEX's founder-led ownership structure, shrinking business, and lingering reputational issues resulting from past legal troubles.

The company's co-founders, Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo, and Samuel Reed, had stepped away from the business following U.S. criminal charges in 2020, but their continued control of a majority of the company complicated negotiations. Buyers typically seek some portion of the acquisition price to incentivize executives to stay after the deal closes, a demand that was not met in BitMEX's case.

Additionally, the company's declining market share, as traders migrated to larger centralized exchanges and decentralized perpetual futures platforms, made potential buyers reluctant to pay the revenue multiple usually associated with growing businesses. BitMEX had targeted a valuation of around $1 billion during the sale process, though formal bids were unclear.

The exchange, co-founded by Hayes, Delo, and Reed, was once a key player in the crypto industry, introducing the perpetual futures contract in 2016, which has since become the dominant product in crypto derivatives trading. However, its failure to secure a sale set it apart from the broader rebound in crypto dealmaking, which has seen increased activity due to returning institutional interest and easing regulatory uncertainty.