BEQUANT used to be a name you’d see on lists of top crypto exchanges. But if you’re looking to trade Bitcoin or Ethereum on BEQUANT today, you won’t find a platform to log into. The retail exchange shut down in July 2022. What’s left isn’t a trading site-it’s a behind-the-scenes institutional brokerage firm called BeQuant Pro Limited. This isn’t a case of a failing exchange. It’s a strategic pivot that tells a bigger story about how crypto markets are changing.
BEQUANT Was Never Just Another Crypto Exchange
When BEQUANT launched in 2018, it didn’t try to compete with Binance or Coinbase by offering flashy apps or meme coin listings. Instead, it focused on one thing: speed and reliability for professional traders. Its infrastructure was built in London’s Equinix LD4 data center, with servers physically close to its matching engine. That meant trades executed in microseconds-critical for high-frequency trading firms and hedge funds that make money off tiny price differences. It offered FIX 4.4, WebSocket, and REST APIs, tools that institutional traders rely on. Most retail platforms don’t even support FIX. BEQUANT did. It connected directly to over 13 liquidity pools, giving clients access to deeper markets than most retail exchanges could match. Maker fees were as low as 0.01%, and taker fees were 0.10%, which was competitive even for professionals. By 2021, BEQUANT had earned a Class 4 license from Malta’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to operate as a regulated exchange. That wasn’t easy. It meant strict AML/KYC checks, secure cold storage, and regular audits. For a while, it looked like BEQUANT could become one of Europe’s most trusted crypto platforms.The Pivot: Why BEQUANT Stopped Serving Retail Traders
In July 2022, BEQUANT made a bold move. It surrendered its Class 4 exchange license and shut down its retail trading platform. All trading activity ended on July 31, 2022. Users had until August 8 to withdraw their funds. After that, the retail side of BEQUANT disappeared. Why? Because the cost of serving retail traders was rising. Compliance, customer support, app development, multilingual support, marketing-all expensive. Meanwhile, institutional clients were willing to pay more for better infrastructure, direct market access, and regulatory certainty. Hedge funds, OTC desks, and asset managers didn’t need a mobile app. They needed low latency, deep liquidity, and compliance. BEQUANT realized it could make more money serving fewer, bigger clients. The move wasn’t a failure. It was a smart exit from a crowded, low-margin space. Retail exchanges are fighting for users with promotions, referral bonuses, and staking rewards. BEQUANT chose to step out of that race and focus on what it did best: institutional-grade trading infrastructure.What BEQUANT Does Now: BeQuant Pro Limited
Today, BEQUANT operates as BeQuant Pro Limited, a regulated prime brokerage under Malta’s MFSA with a Class 3 license. That means it doesn’t let you buy Bitcoin with a credit card. Instead, it provides services like:- Secure custody of digital assets
- Margin trading and lending for institutions
- Direct access to liquidity across multiple exchanges
- Trade execution via FIX and API
- Reporting and reconciliation tools for fund managers
How BEQUANT Compared to Other Exchanges (When It Was Active)
Before its shutdown, BEQUANT stood out in a few key ways:| Feature | BEQUANT | Binance | Coinbase | Kraken |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Target Users | Institutional & professional traders | Retail + institutional | Retail + institutional | Retail + institutional |
| API Access | FIX 4.4, WebSocket, REST | REST, WebSocket | REST | REST, WebSocket |
| Latency | Microsecond execution (co-located) | Milliseconds | Milliseconds | Milliseconds |
| Maker Fee | 0.01% | 0.02% | 0.00% | 0.10% |
| Taker Fee | 0.10% | 0.04% | 0.35% | 0.26% |
| Mobile App | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Regulatory Status | MFSA Class 4 (retail), Class 3 (institutional) | Varies by region | MSB (US), FCA (UK) | FinCEN (US), MFSA (EU) |
| Language Support | English only | 10+ languages | 10+ languages | 5+ languages |
BEQUANT didn’t win on user count. It won on technical precision. But that precision meant nothing to someone who just wanted to buy Dogecoin on their phone. That’s why it lost retail users-not because it was bad, but because it wasn’t built for them.
Was BEQUANT a Scam? The Truth About Trust
Some users worried when the retail platform closed. Was this a rug pull? A exit scam? No. BEQUANT was regulated. It had a clear, public announcement. Users had over a week to withdraw. The company didn’t vanish-it just changed its business model. Reviews from its retail period were mixed but not damning. On CryptoGeek, it held a 3.8/5 rating based on just four reviews. People praised the low fees and fast execution. But they complained about the lack of Russian or other language support. That’s not a red flag-it’s a sign the platform was never meant for global retail. The fact that BEQUANT kept its Class 3 license and still operates under MFSA oversight means it’s still a legitimate, regulated financial entity. It just doesn’t serve you anymore.Who Should Care About BEQUANT Today?
If you’re a retail trader: BEQUANT is irrelevant. You won’t find a login page. You can’t deposit. You can’t trade. Move on. If you’re an institutional investor, fund manager, or OTC desk: BEQUANT is still a player. It offers secure custody, deep liquidity, and enterprise-grade APIs. It’s one of the few crypto firms that built its infrastructure from the ground up for professionals-and kept it running after the retail boom faded. Its partnerships, like the one with WhiteBIT to boost institutional liquidity, show it’s still active in the space. It holds ISO 27001 certification for security. It’s not chasing trends. It’s serving a niche that’s growing: regulated, professional crypto services.The Bigger Picture: Why BEQUANT’s Story Matters
BEQUANT’s shift reflects a larger trend. The crypto market is maturing. Retail trading is becoming more regulated, more expensive, and more competitive. Meanwhile, institutional demand for custody, lending, and execution services is rising fast. Big banks like JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs are entering crypto prime brokerage. Traditional asset managers want to allocate to Bitcoin and Ethereum-but they need compliance, security, and reliability. That’s where firms like BEQUANT Pro Limited thrive. BEQUANT didn’t fail. It evolved. It saw the future and chose to build for it. Most exchanges tried to be everything to everyone. BEQUANT chose to be excellent at one thing: serving institutions. And in 2025, that’s a smarter bet than ever.
What Happened to BEQUANT’s Users?
When BEQUANT shut down its retail exchange, users had to move their funds. Most transferred to other regulated platforms like Kraken, Bitstamp, or Coinbase. Some moved to OTC desks for large trades. A few stayed in cold wallets, waiting for the next opportunity. No mass withdrawals or freezes occurred. The shutdown was orderly. That’s rare in crypto. It’s one reason why BEQUANT still has credibility in institutional circles-even without a retail platform.Is There a BEQUANT App?
No. There never was a mobile app for retail users. And there won’t be. BeQuant Pro Limited doesn’t need one. Its clients use institutional platforms, Excel spreadsheets, and custom dashboards-not smartphones. If you’re looking for a crypto app with BEQUANT’s name on it, you’re out of luck. That’s not a bug. It’s by design.Final Verdict: BEQUANT in 2025
BEQUANT as a retail exchange is gone. But its legacy lives on in the institutional crypto space. If you’re a trader looking for a place to buy Bitcoin, BEQUANT isn’t your answer. But if you’re managing crypto assets for a fund, a family office, or a hedge fund, BEQUANT’s prime brokerage arm is still a credible, regulated option. The lesson? Not every crypto platform needs millions of users. Sometimes, being the best for a few is better than being the biggest for many.Is BEQUANT still operating as a crypto exchange?
No. BEQUANT shut down its retail exchange in July 2022. It no longer allows individuals to trade Bitcoin, Ethereum, or any other cryptocurrency. What remains is BeQuant Pro Limited, a regulated prime brokerage that serves institutional clients only.
Can I still deposit or withdraw funds from BEQUANT?
No. All retail trading and deposit/withdrawal services ended on August 8, 2022. If you had funds on BEQUANT at that time, you were required to withdraw them before the deadline. There is no longer a platform to log into or send funds to.
Is BEQUANT regulated?
Yes, but only in its current form. BeQuant Pro Limited holds a Class 3 Prime Brokerage license from Malta’s Financial Services Authority (MFSA). It is regulated under the Virtual Financial Assets Act (VFAA) and maintains ISO 27001 security certification. Its former retail exchange license (Class 4) was surrendered in 2022.
Why did BEQUANT shut down its retail platform?
BEQUANT shifted focus to institutional services because serving retail traders became too costly and less profitable. Regulatory compliance, customer support, app development, and multilingual support required heavy investment. Meanwhile, institutional clients paid more for better infrastructure, deeper liquidity, and compliance-making the prime brokerage model more sustainable.
Does BEQUANT offer a mobile app?
No. BEQUANT never offered a mobile app for retail users. Its current institutional platform is designed for professional traders who use APIs, FIX protocols, and enterprise tools-not smartphones. There are no plans to launch a mobile app.
What are the alternatives to BEQUANT for institutional crypto trading?
Alternatives include Genesis Trading, Cumberland (DRW), Coinbase Institutional, BitGo, and Fidelity Digital Assets. These firms also offer custody, OTC trading, prime brokerage, and API access for institutional clients. BEQUANT competes on its low-latency infrastructure and MFSA regulation, which appeals to European-based funds.
Can I still use BEQUANT’s API for trading?
No. BEQUANT’s APIs (FIX 4.4, REST, WebSocket) were only available to retail users before July 2022. Today, the APIs are restricted to institutional clients of BeQuant Pro Limited and are not accessible to the public. Access requires a formal business relationship and compliance review.
Was BEQUANT ever hacked or involved in a scam?
No. There is no public record of BEQUANT being hacked or involved in fraud. Its shutdown was a voluntary strategic decision, not a result of security failure. The company operated transparently, gave users ample notice, and followed regulatory procedures during its closure.
Janet Combs
so like... they just vanished? no warning? i lost my doge there in 2021 and never got it back 😔
but now i hear they're still around? weird.
why didn't they just keep the app running for us little guys?
kinda feels like they used us and then tossed us aside.
but maybe i'm just salty.
also who even uses FIX APIs? that sounds like something your dad uses to file taxes.
Dan Dellechiaie
lol retail traders acting like they got robbed when the exchange never catered to them. BEQUANT was a quant shop with a front door. You walked in thinking it was a Starbucks and got mad when they didn't serve lattes. The infrastructure was built for microseconds, not memes. If you needed a mobile app, you were never their customer. The pivot wasn't a betrayal-it was capitalism with a brain. The real scam was thinking crypto exchanges should be user-friendly.
Radha Reddy
Interesting perspective. In India, we see many platforms start with grand promises but collapse under regulatory pressure. BEQUANT’s choice to focus on institutional clients reflects maturity. Many retail users don’t realize that behind every smooth trading experience, there is expensive infrastructure, compliance, and risk management. Perhaps the real lesson is: not every platform needs to be for everyone. Quality over quantity, as they say.
Grace Simmons
Let me get this straight-this company shut down because they didn’t want to deal with Americans who can’t even spell ‘Bitcoin’? We’re the ones who drove the market, and now they’re leaving? This is why crypto is a joke. They ran to Malta because they couldn’t handle real regulation. If you’re serious about finance, you don’t run from the US. You fight for it.
Megan O'Brien
so they pivoted. big deal. still a ghost site. no app. no support. just a bunch of hedge funds whispering into their FIX terminals like they’re in a Bond movie. i’m still mad i couldn’t cash out my shiba inu.
Melissa Black
This is the future. The crypto revolution isn’t about buying DOGE on your phone. It’s about institutional-grade infrastructure enabling trillions in capital to flow without friction. BEQUANT didn’t abandon retail-they outgrew them. The real tragedy is that most retail traders still think crypto is a lottery. Meanwhile, the quiet architects of this ecosystem-like BeQuant Pro-are building the rails for the next decade. You don’t need a mobile app to change the world. You need latency under 100 microseconds and ISO 27001 certification.
Sophia Wade
There’s poetry in this. BEQUANT didn’t die-it ascended. Like a monk leaving the village to meditate on the mountain, they shed the noise of the crowd to serve a deeper truth: value isn’t measured in users, but in trust, precision, and resilience. The retail world screams for more features, more coins, more dopamine. The institutional world asks for one thing: reliability. BEQUANT chose the silence over the scream. And in that silence, they built something eternal.
Brian Martitsch
LOL. You people still care about BEQUANT? 😂
It’s 2025. Binance is a sovereign state. Coinbase is a bank. BEQUANT is a footnote in a whitepaper no one reads.
Move on. You’re wasting your life.
Rebecca F
They didn’t shut down-they surrendered. They gave up on the little people. That’s not strategy, that’s cowardice. They had a license. They had infrastructure. They had the chance to be the people’s exchange. Instead they ran to the hedge funds like a dog to a rich man’s table. And now they call it ‘evolution’? Evolution doesn’t mean abandoning your own kind. It means lifting them up.
BEQUANT is a traitor to crypto’s original promise.
And I’ll never trust another ‘institutional’ platform again.
Vyas Koduvayur
Okay, let’s break this down. BEQUANT’s infrastructure was top-tier, no doubt. Co-located in Equinix LD4? That’s elite. But here’s the thing-most retail traders don’t even know what ‘latency’ means. They just want to buy ETH before the next pump. The real issue isn’t that BEQUANT pivoted-it’s that the entire crypto ecosystem was built on a lie: that retail users could compete with hedge funds. The truth? Retail traders are the liquidity providers for the pros. They’re the ones who create the volatility that HFTs exploit. BEQUANT didn’t leave them-they exposed them. And now the market is cleaning house. The real question is: why did it take so long for the industry to realize this? The answer? Greed. Everyone wanted the retail user base because they’re easy to monetize. But sustainable crypto? That’s institutional. And BEQUANT saw it first.
Jake Mepham
Big respect to BEQUANT for doing what most companies won’t: cutting the dead weight to focus on what they do best. Retail trading is a race to the bottom-promotions, referral bonuses, meme coins, TikTok influencers. Meanwhile, institutional crypto is growing at 40% YoY. BeQuant Pro is quietly building the backbone of the next financial system. If you’re a fund manager, you want them. If you’re a weekend trader? You’re better off on Kraken. This isn’t betrayal-it’s evolution. And honestly? The crypto world needs more of this kind of clarity.
Cathy Bounchareune
I remember when BEQUANT had that sleek, no-frills UI. No banners, no staking rewards, no ‘buy BTC and get free NFT’ nonsense. Just clean charts and lightning-fast fills. I used it for arbitrage between Binance and Kraken back in 2020. It was like using a scalpel instead of a hammer. I’m sad they’re gone for retail, but honestly? I’m not surprised. The crypto world turned into a carnival. BEQUANT was the only one who still wore a suit.
Sheila Ayu
Wait-so they shut down the retail side because it was ‘too expensive’? But they kept the infrastructure? That’s like a restaurant closing the dining room but keeping the kitchen to serve private chefs. And now they’re calling it ‘strategic’? That’s not strategy-that’s elitism. You don’t get to abandon your users and then pat yourself on the back for being ‘professional.’ The whole point of crypto was decentralization, not turning it into a Wall Street club. You didn’t evolve-you just became the thing you claimed to fight.
Shubham Singh
BEQUANT’s pivot is textbook. The cost of KYC for retail users exceeds the revenue from 0.1% fees. Customer support tickets for ‘I lost my password’ cost more than the entire institutional revenue stream. This isn’t a moral failure-it’s arithmetic. The MFSA license is worth more than 10 million retail accounts. Anyone who thinks otherwise is living in a 2021 bubble. The market is rationalizing. BEQUANT is not the villain. The retail crowd is the inefficiency.
Charles Freitas
Oh wow, another ‘smart pivot’ story. Let me guess-CEOs got rich while users got left behind. Classic. You think this is innovation? It’s exploitation. You take the money from retail, then ditch them when the margins shrink. That’s not evolution. That’s capitalism with a suit. BEQUANT didn’t become better-they became richer by abandoning the people who made them possible. And now they want a medal? No. They deserve a punch in the face.
Sarah Glaser
This is one of the most thoughtful analyses of crypto’s maturation I’ve read. BEQUANT didn’t fail-it transitioned. The rise of institutional demand is real. The cost of retail compliance is unsustainable. And the fact that they maintained regulatory integrity throughout is admirable. Many platforms cut corners. BEQUANT didn’t. They chose quality over scale. In a world of rug pulls and exit scams, that’s rare. We should celebrate companies that prioritize integrity over hype-even if it means fewer users.
Jayakanth Kesan
Honestly? I’m happy they did this. In India, we see too many exchanges promise the moon and vanish. BEQUANT gave notice, honored withdrawals, and kept operating under regulation. That’s more than most can say. They didn’t run. They redirected. And honestly? The world needs more of that. Not every company has to be a supermarket. Sometimes, being a specialist lab is better.
Helen Pieracacos
So… they just ghosted their users? And now you’re calling it ‘strategic’? Cute.
Next time you shut down your service, at least send an email that doesn’t sound like a corporate press release.
People lost money. People trusted you.
That’s not evolution. That’s betrayal wrapped in a whitepaper.
Dustin Bright
imagine being so focused on microseconds you forget you’re dealing with humans 😔
they built a Ferrari for racers but forgot the parking lot was full of people who just needed a ride to work
still, props for not vanishing like other exchanges
but man… that’s cold
🥺