OKEx added two more futures products to its portfolio, offering a settlement in Tether (USDT). The futures for XRP, Ethereum Classic (ETC), as well as TRON (TRX) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) will be added to earlier products for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), EOS, Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
OKEx Adds XRP, ETC and More
OKEx, one of the leading futures exchanges, was also the first to offer USDT settlement. This means trader accounts will not take delivery of the underlying asset, offering a simplified structure. Traders can bet on price fluctuations for the altcoins, without handling multiple wallets.
OKEx plans to expand the products, in essence evolving the altcoin market. Just as promised, OKEx also added Tron (TRX) and Bitcoin SV (BSV) to its futures market today.
#OKExUSDTFutures: Welcoming the last pair of USDT Futures for now: $TRX & $BSV! You can now trade 9️⃣ different USDT-Margined Futures on #OKEX.
📈 Trade now: https://t.co/MJh84kECt4
📈 Learn more: https://t.co/EBfwSGhXdi pic.twitter.com/tKRme2eubX— OKX (@okx) December 5, 2019
“Our mobile USDT-margined futures marketplace will also be launched very soon,” the exchange team announced.
The introduction of altcoin futures may change the way the assets are traded, but also diminish ownership. Trades no longer have to leave some of the accounts as “bagholders”, trying to push the actual physical assets.
Futures Allow Risk Taking Without Buying the Actual Asset
Traders will be operating with USDT alone, also risking with margins to make their bet on price action. The new XRP, ETC, BSV and TRX futures can be leveraged from 0.1 to 33.3 times, a moderate risk by crypto standards which offer margin risk as high as 100 to 500 times.
OKEx expanded the futures market in about a month, adding a small portfolio of assets already. The effect of futures on the assets is uncertain, but those types of instruments may invite more experienced traders.
With the greater volatility of altcoins, futures will allow for benefitting from price movements in either direction. The underlying assets selected by OKEx have been seeking direction, after dropping and stagnating in the past months.
XRP is now at $0.21, sliding lower on general bearish expectations. ETC sank to $3.76, but remains liquid enough to offer speculative trading. The coin has seen problems with its low hashrate, which means exchanges require more confirmations for the actual coins. Betting on a derivative product would mean no exposure to actual ETC.
Futures have been criticized for “wagging the dog” of spot trading. But for altcoins, the chance to bet on the price without buying or dumping outright may smooth out some of the volatility. Following the news of the listings, the other pair of altcoins, TRX and BSV, also remained depressed. As the market turned red, TRX remained at $0.14, while BSV sank to $94.59.
What do you think about the USDT settled futures? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!
Images via Shutterstock, Twitter @OKEx