Crypto Exchanges Are Closing. What Do the Numbers Show?
An exchange can disappear, suffer a major hack or stop serving your country. From the FTX bankruptcy to BitMEX's September 2026 closure, the recurring lesson is simple: access to crypto depends on more than its market price. The numbers are striking, but they describe several different risks.
540 listings — but not 540 bankruptcies
We counted 540 dated listings in Cryptowisser's Exchange Graveyard on 27 October 2026. Its categories break down into 198 disappearances, 153 business-related exits, 72 rebrandings, 50 entries labelled scams, 47 regulatory exits and 20 hack-related exits. These are the directory's classifications, not our independent findings about each business. Cryptowisser's Exchange Graveyard.
That is a historical directory, with entries dating back to 2014, rather than a list of exchanges that failed this year. It mixes centralized exchanges, decentralized venues, crypto shops and P2P marketplaces; some regional operations have separate entries. A rebranding is not necessarily a failure, and a business closure is not automatically a bankruptcy.
The same snapshot contains 27 entries dated 2025 and 19 dated 2026 so far. It does not establish that closures are accelerating. What it does illustrate is persistent turnover: familiar platforms can leave the market, change identity or become unavailable to their users.
A shutdown and a bankruptcy can look very different
BitMEX is a recent shutdown example. Its official notice says exchange operations ended on 23 September 2026. Trading, deposits and new positions stopped, while login and withdrawals remained available. The company says available customer funds are withdrawable, subject to minimum thresholds, and warns that remaining balances are subject to account fees. BitMEX closure notice.
FTX illustrates the bankruptcy route. FTX Trading filed for Chapter 11 protection on 11 November 2022, alongside a request for joint administration covering more than 130 affiliated entities. Those entities were not 130 separate exchange failures. A bankruptcy involves a formal claims process, with outcomes that depend on the case. Louisiana financial regulator's FTX notice.
There is no defensible worldwide bankruptcy total in the graveyard data above: it has no separate bankruptcy category. Combining insolvencies, voluntary closures and rebrandings into one dramatic number would make the story less useful.
The hacking figures are large — and broader than exchanges
Chainalysis recorded more than $3.4 billion stolen across crypto from January through early December 2025. About $1.5 billion came from the Bybit attack alone. This covers the wider crypto ecosystem, including personal wallets; it is not an exchange-only loss total or a full-year 2026 figure. Chainalysis research.
Using its own coverage, TRM Labs counted nearly 150 distinct hacks and exploits in 2025, with $2.87 billion stolen. Again, that does not mean 150 exchanges were hacked. The two research totals use different coverage and should not be added together. TRM Labs' 2026 Crypto Crime Report.
The FBI attributed the February 2025 Bybit theft to North Korea. Yet a hack does not automatically mean an exchange has closed: Bybit's incident timeline reported that withdrawals had been processed and normal operations resumed. The graveyard's 20 hack-related exits therefore cannot tell us how many exchanges have ever suffered a hack. FBI alert, Bybit's incident timeline.
An exchange can stay open and still become unavailable to you
For US readers, KuCoin is a clear example of a country restriction. In its 27 January 2025 resolution with US authorities, the exchange agreed to leave the US market for at least two years and pay more than $297 million in penalties. That was a US market exit, not an announcement that KuCoin was closing worldwide. US Department of Justice announcement.
Where you live, which legal entity operates your account and which products it offers all matter. A platform's global brand name alone does not tell a US, UK or other international customer whether the same services are available locally.
An individual account restriction is another category again. If support asks for identity or source-of-funds documents, first establish whether the issue affects your account, your country or the entire platform. Our guide to common reasons for exchange freezes explains that distinction.
What to keep an eye on
The useful takeaway is to keep an exit plan alongside a trading plan. A functioning app today says little about how quickly you could retrieve records or move assets during a shutdown.
- Read official withdrawal and wind-down notices, including deadlines, fees and minimum amounts.
- Keep copies of balances, transaction history and support correspondence outside the exchange.
- Check which company holds your account and whether it serves your country.
- If access changes, identify the cause before treating it as a hack or bankruptcy.
- Use verified support and claims channels; never give anyone your wallet recovery phrase.
The evidence points to several recurring risks rather than one uniform collapse. Some businesses close, some recover from attacks, and others continue operating while restricting particular markets. Knowing which situation you face is more useful than a single headline count.
About the figures and illustration
Sources were checked on 27 October 2026. The directory figures are our count of dated listings in a saved Cryptowisser snapshot; its labels and coverage may change. Theft figures retain each researcher's stated period and scope. These datasets overlap and cannot be combined into a total number of failed exchanges.
Cover: an AI-generated editorial illustration created for DefCrypt. It represents closure, theft and restricted access; it does not depict a real exchange or incident.