As BitMEX exits, analysts warn crypto consolidation is accelerating
The closure of crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX is prompting fresh questions about whether the industry is entering a new phase of consolidation, as analysts point to market-share concentration and rising regulatory costs squeezing smaller platforms. While BitMEX helped pioneer perpetual swaps that became a cornerstone of digital asset derivatives trading, its daily Bitcoin futures volume began declining around May 2021 and never recovered to its 2020 daily peak of between $1 billion and $5 billion, according to data from CryptoQuant. Restructuring adviser Roshan Dharia told Cointelegraph the exchange‘s demise reflects structural pressures facing mid-sized centralized exchanges, where liquidity has increasingly concentrated among the industry’s largest players and regulatory compliance costs continue to rise. He said: The top five platforms now control an estimated 80% of global spot volume, leaving mid-tier and regional exchanges with shrinking margins and no viable path to scale... The headwinds are structural, not cyclical.Source: BitMEX Related: BitMEX pitches ‘canary fund’ alternative to Bitcoin quantum coin freeze The fall of BitMEX BitMEX, the crypto derivatives exchange founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Ben Delo and Samuel Reed, announced on Thursday that it will shut down. Trading is scheduled to end on Sept. 23 following a strategic review by parent company HDR Global Trading. The