BitMEX announces its shutdown triggers a 95% plunge in BMEX; Bubblemaps says 75% of token allocations have never been circulated on-chain

PANews July 24 news: blockchain data analytics platform Bubblemaps said that after BitMEX announced its closure, the price of its platform token BMEX dropped sharply, down about 95% from its prior level. According to the tokenomics model publicly disclosed by BitMEX, about 75% of the total BMEX supply was originally planned for employee incentives, ecosystem development, and long-term reserves, but these tokens were never actually distributed on-chain.

Data shows that in 2021, about 92% of the BMEX supply was locked in vesting contracts, and the remaining 8% was allocated upon token listing. This includes: 5% for airdrops; 3% for product and liquidity support.

Previously, each allocation category corresponded to separate addresses to receive future unlocked tokens. But to date, there has only been one withdrawal record: on November 2, 2022, the product and liquidity address withdrew about 63.75 million BMEX, while allocation addresses for employee incentives, ecosystem growth, and long-term reserves have not had any token withdrawals.

Bubblemaps said this does not necessarily mean there is a problem, as the project may later adjust its tokenomics, contracts, or allocation plans, which may not be reflected on-chain. However, based on the previously public BMEX tokenomic design, the above allocations have not yet been actually completed for on-chain circulation.

BitMEX was founded by Arthur Hayes and others. It previously pioneered the perpetual contract trading model, which had a significant impact on the development of the crypto derivatives market. After the closure decision was announced, confidence in the BMEX market was clearly hit.