CoinEx is winding down its exchange operations and plans to complete an orderly closure on Dec. 22, 2026, citing a prolonged crypto-market downturn, weaker trading volumes and liquidity, and rising regulatory compliance costs. Founder Haipo Yang said the exchange had not achieved his ambition of becoming an industry-leading platform and that limited revenue no longer justified potentially unlimited operational risks. CoinEx says its reserves exceed 100%, with wallet assets valued at about $430 million, and withdrawals will remain available through the closing date. CET rose 7% to $0.00499 as CoinEx said it would repurchase the token at $0.005 each without a quantity cap, while its trading volume climbed more than 500% over 24 hours. The platform's exit follows its 2023 U.S. settlement, a roughly $70 million hot-wallet theft attributed by security firms to Lazarus, and scrutiny over reported fund flows involving Iranian entities and assets stolen from Bybit. CoinEx denies commercial ties with the Iranian government, central bank or Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps and says it will review transactions related to the Bybit theft.