BitMart weighs partial restart and creditor payouts after shutdown

BitMart is exploring a restructuring plan that could pair a phased restart of operations with distributions to creditors, weeks after telling users the exchange would shut down entirely, CryptoBriefing reported. The exchange said Friday it's developing the plan, five days before its own August 26 deadline to stop all trading.

BitMart announced the original shutdown on July 26, immediately halting new registrations, deposits, and new trading orders. It said all trading would end August 26 and the platform would close entirely on January 31, 2027. At the time, BitMart pointed to operating conditions, market conditions, and its future strategy, and disclosed no financial shortfall.

Friday's update adds a detail the original announcement didn't have: creditor distributions. Exchanges that pause because of market conditions alone don't typically need to pay out creditors, so the new language signals something closer to a formal restructuring than a strategic wind-down. BitMart has hired White & Case, one of the largest insolvency practices in the world, as restructuring counsel.

• Original shutdown announced: July 26
• Trading deadline: August 26
• Full platform closure planned: January 31, 2027
• BMX token after shutdown announcement: down about 46% to roughly $0.11
• BMX token now: near $0.0626, up about 6% on the restructuring news

The potential restart lands amid ongoing questions about the platform itself. Users reported difficulties withdrawing assets during August, and former employees alleged that wages had gone unpaid. BitMart founder Sheldon Xia disputed claims that withdrawals had been blocked and called the allegations fabricated, but he offered no reserve figures and no timetable for resolving the reported issues.

The distinction between a shutdown and a restructuring matters for anyone who still has funds on the platform. A straightforward wind-down usually means an exchange returns customer balances on its own timeline and closes without outside oversight. Bringing in a major global insolvency firm like White & Case points toward a legal process closer to formal restructuring, where creditor claims get sorted and prioritized under something closer to bankruptcy procedure rather than a company deciding on its own when to send funds back. That shift changes what users can reasonably expect from the process, and how quickly they might see any of it play out.

BitMart isn't new to crisis management. Hackers stole roughly $196 million from two of its hot wallets in December 2021, and the exchange later pledged to reimburse affected users. That episode sits in the same category of exchange-level shocks as Bybit's fight to recover its own $1.5 billion hack, where a major platform had to rebuild trust after losing user funds rather than its own money.

The restructuring also follows a leadership shakeup shortly before the shutdown announcement. Nenter Chow, who became BitMart's global CEO in April 2025, said he was removed from the role on July 24, two days before the exchange announced its closure. BitMart hasn't committed to restarting operations, describing the plan as a potential path forward and saying it expects to publish a full public roadmap by September 9.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.