FTX, one of the largest crypto derivatives platforms, on Saturday, successfully launched Bitcoin options trading for its clients.
Announced by the exchange’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (pictured above) on Twitter, the platform has only listed Bitcoin options; however, its future plans are still unknown. In a further tweet, he also claimed that after about two hours of launching, the trading volume of the options contracts touched $1 million.
Options are live!https://t.co/B85lrLVDQO
— SBF (@SBF_Alameda) January 12, 2020
Launched last year, FTX attracted a major mass of traders and is now the eighth largest futures trading platform with an adjusted volume of around $370 million in the last 24 hours. The market is led by Huobi and OKEx, both of which handle billions of dollars in trades in a day.
FTX options just hit $1m of volume since the launch 2 hours ago!https://t.co/B85lrLVDQO
— SBF (@SBF_Alameda) January 12, 2020
The increasing demand for crypto futures
Last month, the derivatives platform received an undisclosed amount from the leading crypto exchange Binance. As FortuneZ reported, the deal terms include FTX’s involvement to build out the liquidity and institutional product offerings across the Binance ecosystem, including its global exchange and over-the-counter (OTC) trading desk.
The derivatives exchange also grabbed headlines last year when a $150 million lawsuit was brought against it for market manipulation and selling unlicensed securities in the US. Allegations were also made that the manipulations were done by Binance, which the vocal head of the exchange denied. The charges were dropped by the court last month due to insufficient evidence.
With the volatility in the spot market, crypto options contracts became very popular, and major exchanges are betting big on the arena. Along with Huobi and OKEx, Binance also dived into the sector, along with the launch of its futures platform.
(Photo: FTX)
