# What to use instead of the BitMEX API

BitMEX closed its exchange on 23 September 2026, and its trading and market-data API went with it. Where the data, the history and the order code go.

*https://cryptomarkets.tools/alternatives/bitmex-api*

## The subject

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Product | BitMEX API |
| Status | retired |
| Stopped serving | 2026-09-23 |
| Website | https://www.bitmex.com |
| Category | Crypto Market Data APIs |

The REST and WebSocket API of the BitMEX derivatives exchange, home of the XBTUSD inverse perpetual, and for a decade a default venue in bots, terminals and data feeds.

## Replacements

*Ordered by how much of the original’s job each one covers, closest first. Paid placement does not affect this order.*

1. [Bybit Market Data API](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/bybit-api.md) — The nearest live shape, an inverse BTCUSD perpetual settled in bitcoin with 8-hour funding, on keyless v5 endpoints. US IP addresses get a 403.
2. [OKX Market Data API](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/okx-api.md) — Coin-margined swaps settled in BTC and ETH beside the USDT ones, with funding history and open interest on anonymous GETs, under terms that reach public data.
3. [CCXT](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/ccxt.md) — For order code, the same unified methods reach other venues' perpetuals. Its master branch dropped the bitmex class after the closure.
4. [Tardis.dev](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/tardis-dev.md) — BitMEX's own tape, kept as a delisted feed. Trades, L2 books, funding and liquidations from 30 March 2019 to September 2026, as history only.
5. [Amberdata Market Data API](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/amberdata.md) — BitMEX funding from May 2016, the longest series on this page, and its changelog says history up to the closure stays available.
6. [Coin Metrics](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/coin-metrics.md) — XBTUSD and ETHUSD trades up to the settlement at 12:00 UTC on 16 September 2026, on a paid key. The free community tier serves no market data.

## The product

BitMEX was a crypto derivatives exchange, and its API mattered more than its screen. In May 2016
it listed XBTUSD, the perpetual swap the closure notice calls BitMEX's invention: an inverse
contract quoted in dollars and settled in bitcoin, with funding every eight hours. Its instrument
endpoint still described it that way in September 2025. Margin and P&L were counted in satoshis,
under the ticker XBt. For years XBTUSD's funding rate and open interest were the derivatives
numbers people quoted. A REST API and a WebSocket feed sat underneath, BitMEX was among the
founding venues of tick archives such as Tardis.dev, and bots and terminals treated it as a
standard connection.

**The end came in two notices, both on the vendor's own blog.** On 23 July 2026 HDR Global
Trading, the operator, announced:

> Today we are announcing the closure of the BitMEX Exchange, which will take effect on 23
> September 2026 at UTC 04:00:00 (the Closure Time).

New registrations stopped that day. From 26 August at 04:00 UTC, risk limits allowed positions
only to be reduced, and BitMEX said it would force-close positions and early-settle illiquid
contracts before the Closure Time. XBTUSD itself was delisted and settled early, at 12:00 UTC on
16 September. On 23 September BitMEX posted that it "has ceased all exchange operations". Login
and withdrawals remain. Neither closure notice mentions the API by name. With no trading and no
new data, the public half has nothing left to serve, and the private half has nothing left to
trade.

## What to use instead

Nobody replaces BitMEX whole. What you held was one of three things: a live derivatives feed, a
piece of order code, or a history. Each goes somewhere different.

**If you read live funding, open interest and books,** the [Bybit API](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/bybit-api) is the
closest in shape. Its BTCUSD contract is an inverse perpetual settled in BTC, sized in dollars,
with an eight-hour funding interval, all on keyless public endpoints. It refuses US and Mainland
China IP addresses outright. The [OKX API](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/okx-api) also lists coin-margined swaps
(BTC-USD-SWAP and ETH-USD-SWAP) beside its USDT ones, and serves funding history and open
interest to an anonymous GET. Its terms reach public endpoints too, which matters if you
republish anything.

**If you had order code,** [CCXT](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/ccxt) is the shortest path if the code already went
through it, since the unified methods are the same on the next venue. The contract sizes are not,
so see the notes below. If you wrote to BitMEX's REST API directly, you are rewriting the client
whichever venue you pick.

**If what you needed was the history,** it outlived the exchange. [Tardis.dev](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/tardis-dev)
lists BitMEX as delisted, with trades, L2 books, quotes, funding and liquidations from 30 March
2019. [Amberdata](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/amberdata) has BitMEX funding from May 2016, the earliest start on its own
funding table, and its changelog says history up to the closure stays available.
[Coin Metrics](https://cryptomarkets.tools/tools/coin-metrics) has the XBTUSD and ETHUSD trades up to the settlement, but only
on a paid key: its free community tier refuses all market data.

The cross-venue view BitMEX used to be one row of is on
[how to get funding and open interest](https://cryptomarkets.tools/how-to/get-funding-and-open-interest). The trade-offs
between the large venue APIs are on
[Binance vs Coinbase vs Bybit vs OKX APIs](https://cryptomarkets.tools/compare/binance-vs-coinbase-vs-bybit-vs-okx-apis).

## What you give up

**The benchmark series.** XBTUSD funding ran from 2016 to 2026 on one contract under one set of
rules. Any series you build from now on joins it to another venue's contract, with a different
index, different funding caps and a different crowd. A backtest that crosses September 2026 is
crossing a regime change, whether or not the chart shows a seam.

**The quanto.** ETHUSD was a quanto contract: priced in dollars, margined and settled in bitcoin.
The coin-margined ETH contracts on Bybit and OKX settle in ETH. A strategy that held ETH exposure
on BTC collateral has no equivalent on this page.

**One API for data and orders.** The BitMEX API served public market data and private order
entry from one host. The Bybit and OKX cards here cover only the public market-data half. Their
private APIs need an account at the exchange, which this catalogue does not evaluate.

**A clean end to the series.** XBTUSD did not trade to the Closure Time. BitMEX's notices of 2
and 4 September set it to reduce-only at 04:00 UTC on 10 September, stopped funding at 04:00 on 16
September and delisted and settled it at 12:00 that day, and a notice on the 16th confirmed it.
Coin Metrics' trades stop at that minute and Tardis's XBTUSD files end with that day. The last six
days are a reduce-only wind-down and the last price is an index settlement, not a market close, so
a backtest that runs to the end of the series is reading the wind-down.

## Migration notes

**XBT is BTC.** BitMEX used the ticker XBT and counted balances in satoshis (XBt). Every pick says
BTC and counts in whole coins or in dollars. A symbol map and a units conversion belong in the
first commit, not the last. [How to map a ticker to one coin](https://cryptomarkets.tools/how-to/map-a-ticker-to-one-coin)
covers the general problem.

**Contract size changes the arithmetic, quietly.** XBTUSD was one dollar per contract, traded in
lots of 100. Bybit's BTCUSD is also one dollar per contract, with a step of one. OKX's
BTC-USD-SWAP is 100 dollars per contract, and its ETH-USD-SWAP is ten. An order quantity carried
over unchanged is a position a hundred times too large or too small, and CCXT does not convert it
for you.

**Pin nothing to the old hosts.** Code pointed at the BitMEX REST or WebSocket host no longer gets
market data, and the vendor gave no API end date to plan around. Our request to its REST path on
25 October 2026 got a 403, which may be a geographic block rather than a switch-off, so we cannot
tell you what the host answers from elsewhere. Treat any client still configured for it as dead
code.

**Your own trade history is a withdrawal problem, not an API problem.** The closure notice says
logged-in users can still see their wallet balance and transaction history. Export it while the
login works. [How to export exchange trade history](https://cryptomarkets.tools/how-to/export-exchange-trade-history) covers
the formats, and [what happens to data after a delisting](https://cryptomarkets.tools/guides/what-happens-to-data-after-a-delisting)
covers why nobody else will keep your fills for you.

**Revoke the keys anyway.** Withdrawals still run, so a BitMEX key that had withdrawal rights is
still worth something to whoever holds it. Delete it in the account settings, and read
[what your API key lets a bot do](https://cryptomarkets.tools/guides/what-your-api-key-lets-a-bot-do) before you issue the
replacement elsewhere.

## FAQ

### When exactly did the BitMEX API shut down?

BitMEX announced the closure of its exchange on 23 July 2026, in a blog post titled Important Message from BitMEX, and set the Closure Time at 04:00 UTC on 23 September 2026. Its notice BitMEX Exchange Now Closed, published that day, says trading, deposits and new positions are no longer available. Neither notice gives the API a separate date; it went with the exchange.

### Can I still log in or withdraw from BitMEX?

Yes, by the vendor's own notices. Login and withdrawals continue after the Closure Time. KYC'd users who left funds on the platform are charged an account fee of 1% a year, charged monthly, or 50 dollars' worth for small balances, and the fee is to rise over time.

### Is BitMEX's historical data still available anywhere?

Yes, from data vendors rather than from BitMEX. Tardis.dev lists BitMEX as a delisted feed with history from 30 March 2019. Amberdata says its history up to the closure stays available, with funding back to May 2016. Coin Metrics has XBTUSD and ETHUSD trades up to their settlement on 16 September 2026, on paid plans only.

### Is there a drop-in replacement for the BitMEX API?

No. Every venue on this page has its own symbols, contract sizes, signing scheme and rate limits. CCXT hides most of the method names but not the contract arithmetic, and BitMEX's ETHUSD quanto, settled in bitcoin, has no counterpart on the picks.