Popular crypto exchange denies shutdown rumors

Just 41 days into the caller year, the crypto assemblage has already seen respective high-profile exits.

Reports that Arkham Exchange could beryllium adjacent rapidly made the rounds. But the institution says it is not going anywhere.

Related: Major crypto institution shuts down, refunds investors

Arkham Exchange is simply a crypto trading level launched by Arkham Intelligence.

Arkham Intelligence was founded successful 2020 arsenic an onchain analytics level with backing from salient angel investors, including Tim Draper, Joe Lonsdale of Palantir Technologies, and OpenAI and Worldcoin founder Sam Altman.

Its crypto trading speech limb was aboriginal positioned arsenic a earthy hold of its data-driven ecosystem.

In October 2024, Arkham floated plans for a crypto derivatives level aimed astatine competing with large players specified arsenic Binance. By aboriginal 2025, it had launched spot trading crossed aggregate U.S. states and rolled retired a mobile app successful December.

Still, volumes person remained modest.

According to CoinGecko, Binance holds the apical presumption among the exchanges with astir $9.27 cardinal successful 24-hour trading measurement arsenic of Feb. 11.

Coinbase comes 2nd with $2.16 billion. Arkham, by comparison, has registered conscionable under $695,416 in trading measurement wrong the past 24 hours.

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Arkham Exchange, the trading level built by information analytics steadfast Arkham Intelligence, was reportedly preparing to unopen down, CoinDesk archetypal reported, citing a idiosyncratic acquainted with the matter.

The study noted that the speech was struggling with idiosyncratic adoption.

However, Arkham has firmly rejected the shutdown narrative.

In comments to Cointelegraph, Arkham CEO Miguel Morel said the speech is not closing but transitioning from a centralized speech (CEX) exemplary to a afloat decentralized speech (DEX).

“The aboriginal of crypto trading is decentralized, and that’s what we’re gathering towards,” Morel said.

A CEX is tally by a institution that holds users’ funds and manages trades. Binance and Coinbase (NASDAQ: COIN) are the champion examples of CEX.

Meanwhile, a DEX operates via astute contracts, letting users commercialized straight from wallets, similar Uniswap oregon dYdX, without intermediaries.

Morel argued that centralized incumbents person grown “bloated and unresponsive,” adding that decentralized trading, peculiarly perpetual futures, is “cheaper, faster, and gives users custody of their ain assets.”