July 26, 2026

Today another crypto exchange, BitMart, has announced it is stopping operations. According to the current announcement, BitMart is also following a standard wind-down process due to ongoing operating losses, not the kind of “rug-pull/run-off” scenario seen before—so it at least gives users an explanation. In previous bear markets, companies would lay off staff because they couldn’t sustain enough revenue; now they’re going straight into a bankruptcy process. This shows that the operating cost pressure is also significant. For example, in a certain DEX I understand, the entire technical plus operations team has around a hundred people. If you estimate average monthly salaries of several tens of thousands, then the annual total fixed overhead would be tens of millions of RMB, or a few million USD. In a bear market with no revenue, not every team can afford that kind of burn.

Also, due to the prolonged downturn in the market, and the past “scam” behavior by shoddy project teams after token listings, it has become extremely difficult for a new project to get listed on a top exchange. Even if it does get listed, with such poor market conditions, it still can’t complete cash-out. For project teams, actual product development is a huge expense, and the operational costs of getting listed are also indispensable. Sometimes it’s just hard to balance the two—this might be the project teams’ predicament right now. In the crypto world, when the market is bad and there isn’t obvious commercial value, you can’t generate positive cash flow; everything ultimately relies on grants and external funding, and that will inevitably run out.

Many people may be gradually losing long-term confidence in the market—perhaps they only believe in big promises, maybe with a little ETH added on top. In that situation, it’s not surprising at all. However, the crypto market has cycles, and in me…