Cryptocurrency exchange BitMEX recently added EOS futures contracts to its platform. Futures traders are now poised to either cash out big or go home broke in this first round of speculative EOS trading. 

‘The Real Deal Holyfield?’

BitMEX CEO Arthur Hayes announced that his platform would officially begin offering EOS/XBT futures contracts, starting this month. (Note: Bitcoin, traditionally known as ‘BTC,’ is denoted by the symbol ‘XBT’ on the BitMEX platform.)

Hayes took to Twitter yesterday to tout:

Is $EOS a shitcoin or the real deal Holyfield? Trade $EOSM18 with 20x leverage on BitMEX.

Is $EOS a shitcoin or the real deal Holyfield? Trade $EOSM18 with 20x leverage on BitMEX. https://t.co/yEJ7iDjcqY

— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 7, 2018

With EOS being one of the most volatile coins on the market, those choosing to speculate on its performance will find themselves either raking in huge profits or breaking the bank.

For those just looking to get their feet wet with futures trading, BitMEX also offers a ‘sandbox’ mode, where traders can try their hands at speculating without risking actual capital.

A New Wave

Futures contracts are nothing new to those who have traded in traditional stocks and currency markets. However, cryptocurrency markets were hit with the first wave of futures trading in December 2017 when the Chicago Board Of Exchange (CBOE) introduced the first round of Bitcoin futures contracts — affording investors who were uninterested in actually holding any Bitcoin the ability to participate in the market.

Futures contracts work as an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a future date on an agreed-upon price. Simply put, those who speculate that the price of a certain asset will rise will buy futures contracts in hopes to make profits from their initial investment. Inversely, those who think the price will fall will sell futures contracts to make money on the ‘short.’

The Real Skinny On EOS

EOS is aiming to create infrastructure for the decentralized application (dApp) economy. Those who have followed and invested in EOS have seen tremendous highs and frustrating lows during its ICO phase this past year.

EOS saw it’s first big run-up in early January during the large-scale Bitcoin and altcoin bull-run. During that time, EOS went from $4 USD to $18 USD in the span of one month, before pulling back almost 100 percent of its rally.

EOS went on another massive run in mid-April when it shot from $6 USD to highs of $23 USD in the span of 2 weeks, which most credited to the near completion of the ICO crowdsale.

The EOS crowdsale ICO has just finished as of June 2 and the mainnet will soon be launched — pending a testing phase conducted by its block producers.

If the EOS mainnet launch goes smoothly and pushes strong out of the gate, futures contracts could potentially become extremely valuable. The results of a recent survey have predicted the year-end price of EOS to reach $38.25 USD — a near 300 percent increase from today’s price.

Will you be looking to trade on BitMEX’s EOS/XBT futures? What is your opinion of futures contracts in the cryptocurrency market? Let us know in the comments below! 

Image courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter/@CryptoHayes, CoinMarketCap.com.