The Unchanging Foundation Through Bull and Bear Markets: On the Occasion of BitMart's 8th Anniversary

Entering its 17th year, the cryptocurrency industry is gradually maturing; concurrently, CEXs have also faced their own "coming-of-age moment" — the test of compliance and the competition to build their ecosystem landscapes. On one hand, the trend towards a more favorable regulatory environment in the US is clear, making compliance a mandatory choice for CEXs; on the other hand, under the impact of the TradFi wave, constructing a self-contained ecosystem has become the top priority for CEXs in the second half of the competition.

In this "hundred-regiment battle" among CEXs, BitMart, celebrating its 8th anniversary, has gradually carved out its own development path with its robust security and compliance system, global localization strategy, and rich product ecosystem. Today, Odaily will adopt a third-party media perspective to review its eight-year journey through industry bull and bear markets with everyone, aiming to explore the real pillars that enable a CEX to thrive sustainably.

True Heroes Emerge in Turbulent Times; Bull and Bear Cycles Reveal the Value of Compliance

Today, compliance is an unavoidable hurdle for all CEXs, whether they are native to the crypto market or diversified players venturing into the TradFi space. However, in the past, only a few CEXs understood the necessity and importance of compliance, and BitMart was one of them.

In 2017, BitMart was registered and established in the United States. Founder Sheldon Xia made a rather counterintuitive choice at the company's inception: proactively engaging with the regulatory system and building the platform with standardized operations as the starting point. The core logic was clear and firm — only by accepting constraints and scrutiny within a strict regulatory framework can a platform truly solidify its foundation and win users' long-term trust. This was not "self-imposed shackles" but a conviction in the industry's long-term development.

In early 2026, following approval by the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), BitMart US achieved full compliance coverage across all 50 US states and territories, becoming one of the few crypto exchanges capable of operating compliantly throughout the entire United States.

From its beginning to the present, BitMart has always regarded compliance as a core principle of its development. Through multiple industry bull and bear cycles, it has consistently maintained a posture of stable operation. Over eight years, within the framework of compliance and security, BitMart has continuously strengthened its operational foundation, gradually building a compliant operational system covering major global markets. From continuously refining operational guidelines for various regions to further optimizing compliance capabilities through resource integration, BitMart has always aimed for "stable operation," not merely pursuing a pile-up of licenses. This long-termism with compliance as the bottom line has allowed BitMart to maintain a stable development trajectory through industry reshuffles, becoming one of the representatives of steady operation in the sector.

Fortifying Security Defenses, Solidifying the Survival Foundation of CEXs

If compliance is the "lifeline" for a CEX's sustained operation, then security and risk control are its "bottom line" for survival. The development of the crypto industry has always been accompanied by security challenges. Social engineering attacks, system vulnerabilities, and other issues constantly test a platform's risk control capabilities. Leading CEXs, including BitMart, have gradually reached a consensus: the key to preventing platform security vulnerabilities often lies not in how advanced the technology itself is, but in whether the entire security and risk control system possesses sufficient defense-in-depth.

Leveraging eight years of technical accumulation and operational experience, BitMart has built a comprehensive, multi-layered security and risk control system, integrating security concepts into every aspect of platform operations:

• Asset Management Level: Approximately 99% of user assets on BitMart are stored in physically isolated cold wallets, with only 1% kept in hot wallets for liquidity management. Multi-signature technology ensures any fund transfer requires multi-party authorization. Advanced security protocols like WAF, XDR, and CWPP build the system-level defense line.
• Underlying Technology Level: In 2024, BitMart officially upgraded its wallet architecture to an MPC (Multi-Party Computation) framework, introducing a higher level of security mechanism at the key management layer.
• Institutional Partnership Level: BitMart maintains long-term strategic partnerships with institutional-grade custody service providers like Copper, Cobo, and Fireblocks. In 2025, it also built a blacklist address database and AML intelligence library on a million-scale, combined with on-chain tracking models to strengthen real-time detection of abnormal fund flows, ensuring the normal operation of anti-money laundering mechanisms.
• User Security Configuration Level: BitMart has set up multiple security checkpoints such as mandatory two-factor authentication (2FA), anti-phishing codes, and withdrawal address whitelisting, serving as the first line of defense against social engineering attacks.
• Compliance Toolchain Level: In 2025, BitMart integrated Notabene (Travel Rule compliance), Sumsub (KYC/AML verification), and Signzy (real-name authentication), covering full-chain compliance risk management from user onboarding to fund flows.

"Hackers get smarter, so we get tougher." Behind this statement by BitMart founder Sheldon Xia lies the platform's continuous investment in a comprehensive, evolving security system, not a one-time vanity project or seemingly useful defensive measures.

BitMart's 8-Year Ecosystem Building Journey: From Cryptocurrency Exchange to Comprehensive Digital Asset Trading Platform

If regulatory compliance is the cornerstone of a platform's development, then the ecosystem loop built around asset trading is the core engine that has supported BitMart to this day.

First, looking at the most fundamental trading level. In 2025, BitMart completed the third-generation architecture upgrade of its spot and futures systems: the average spot system matching latency dropped to 2 milliseconds, with order processing capacity reaching 200,000 per second; futures system latency dropped to 7 milliseconds, with processing capacity reaching 120,000 per second, representing an overall performance improvement of over 10x. Full-year spot trading volume increased by 58.5% year-over-year, with a single-month growth rate as high as 128% in May, ranking first among major global exchanges; annual futures trading volume increased by 68% year-over-year, with total annual volume exceeding 9 trillion USDT.

In terms of asset coverage, BitMart's rapid listing strategy has formed a self-reinforcing flywheel: in 2025, it listed 1,193 assets, with nearly 50% being first listings. Among these, 93 assets saw gains exceeding 1000%, and the top 20 assets by annual gain were all first listed on BitMart. For users seeking to capture high-potential assets early, this data signifies that BitMart is an asset gateway that reacts faster, lists earlier, and covers more broadly than most of its peers.

Furthermore, the expansion of its product matrix has been one of BitMart's key efforts over these 8 years. In 2025, riding the wave of PayFi and stablecoins, BitMart successively launched BitMart Card, covering virtual, physical, premium metal, and prepaid cards, serving over 160 countries and regions globally, and supporting the platform's native token BMX as a payment medium. BitMart Travel provides flight and hotel bookings. P2P business annual transaction volume grew 327.65% year-over-year, adding nine new fiat markets including Vietnam, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nigeria, and the Philippines. The Assets Under Management (AUM) of wealth management products grew 468% year-over-year. Moreover, the popularity of the RWA sector provided impetus for BitMart's business development. It jointly launched the yield-generating stablecoin BMRUSD with regulated partners, organically combining wealth management products with cryptocurrencies and RWA assets, further lowering the practical barriers to mass crypto adoption.

Judging from the expansion boundaries of its existing business, it's difficult to summarize BitMart with the single term "cryptocurrency exchange" in the traditional sense. Considering its recent moves in the hot fields of AI and on-chain ecosystems, perhaps calling it a "comprehensive digital asset trading platform" is more appropriate.

Regarding AI, in 2025, BitMart launched several effective industry tools such as X Insight (a social sentiment database tracking 2000+ KOLs and analyzing 10,000 tweets daily), Beacon Trading Assistant (supporting one-click candlestick interpretation and price trend prediction for the top 30 assets on CMC), and AI Trading Arena (a visual live simulation environment). Recently, integrating with the trending AI Agent system OpenClaw, BitMart further launched BitMart Skills, allowing developers to integrate BitMart's trading capabilities into AI Agents with one click, truly striving towards the goal of "making trading easy for users."

Regarding on-chain, in March 2026, BitMart launched the BitMart Web3 Wallet. Through this product, users can complete a full set of operations from asset management to on-chain trading within a single platform. It supports price display and trading for approximately 1.7 million tokens and has built a DEX aggregator architecture with multi-route optimization and Gas optimization capabilities. As on-chain trading liquidity deepens, preemptively building an on-chain entry point is the second growth curve BitMart has prepared for itself.

Conclusion: 8 Years, 13 Million+ Users, 1700+ Trading Pairs

As of the end of 2025, BitMart's global registered user base has exceeded 13 million, with the platform supporting over 1700 trading pairs. Various metrics rank among the top in statistics from aggregator platforms like CoinGecko. Additionally, its platform token BMX's market cap grew from approximately $35 million at the beginning of last year to over $156 million currently, representing an annual growth of about 4.45x, with the number of active holders surpassing 500,000.

However, more noteworthy than these numbers are several key choices BitMart made over the eight years: starting in 2017 in the US, the market with the strictest regulations; completing the MPC wallet architecture upgrade in 2024, proactively raising security standards; achieving full US compliance coverage under the regulatory framework in 2025; and proactively acquiring regulatory licenses through the acquisition of WooX in 2026. For each choice, there might have been easier alternatives or shortcuts to achieve the goal faster at the time, but BitMart resolutely chose the harder path.

Today, the crypto market is no longer a game where speed alone guarantees victory. Regulatory frameworks are becoming clearer, institutional capital is rushing in, user experience standards are rising, and the intensity of industry competition is constantly escalating. In such an environment, compliance capability and ecosystem depth are becoming the core variables that determine whether an exchange can continuously win user trust, leverage its own value, and genuinely contribute positively to the industry.

Over 8 years and 2 market cycles, BitMart has steadily built these two aspects into its most distinct labels through step-by-step, solid efforts. Looking back at its development journey, it's evident that BitMart is not the fastest runner in the industry, but it is one of the steadiest. In an industry rife with short-term speculation, BitMart's style of steady progress may seem somewhat unconventional, but this might precisely be its winning formula for lasting success.

Risk Disclaimer:

The above information is for reference only and should not be considered as advice to buy, sell, or hold any financial assets. All information is provided in good faith. However, we make no express or implied representations or warranties regarding the accuracy, adequacy, validity, reliability, availability, or completeness of such information.

All cryptocurrency investments (including wealth management products) are inherently highly speculative and carry significant risk of loss. Past performance, hypothetical results, or simulated data do not necessarily indicate future results. The value of digital currencies may rise or fall, and buying, selling, holding, or trading digital currencies may involve substantial risks. Before engaging in transactions or holding digital currencies, you should carefully evaluate whether such investments are suitable for you based on your investment objectives, financial situation, and risk tolerance. BitMart does not provide any investment, legal, or tax advice.