BitMEX Launches Tether (USDT) Margined Contracts

According to an exclusive press release shared by BitMEX, Tether (USDT) is slated to go live on the crypto exchange on 10th November at 04:00 UTC. With this, the traders can now formally begin margin trading and settle with Tether issued on the Ethereum network, i.e., ERC20-USDT on BitMEX.

Diversification in BitMEX’s offerings

Extreme price volatility during market downturns and sporadic rallies are a continuously growing part of the crypto landscape. Hence, market players are increasingly leveraging stablecoins as collateral to trade futures contracts. BitMEX’s latest move to bring USDT-margined contracts comes at a time of tremendous demand as different types of investors look for participation.

Out of the total nine USDT-margined products, seven are perpetual linear swaps on XBT, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH, DOGE, and SOL, while the remaining two are linear futures contracts on XBT and ETH.

BitMEX is also leveling up its game by providing some incentives for its traders. They will be able to trade for free until 9th December, meaning, for the next 30 days, there will be no fees on any Tether-margined contracts. The derivatives exchange also revealed that it will transfer some USDT for affiliate purposes.

Ambitious Roadmap and Beyond Derivatives

Alexander Höptner, the CEO of BitMEX, revealed that the move is a part of embracing the “new tidal wave of retail adoption.” The exec emphasized that the introduction of USDT margined contracts has less to do with the stablecoin itself. Rather, it is about how the latest product offering paves the way for BitMEX to offer a new suite of products and trading opportunities for its daily users.

BitMEX’s primary goal is to move beyond derivatives. Notably, it dominated the derivatives space for quite some time. However, things changed after the Black Thursday crash of 2020. Since then, exchanges such as Binance, OKEx, Huobi have managed to lead in terms of the trading volume.

According to Höptner, BitMEX’s roadmap Beyond Derivatives and UDST-margined contracts are crucial milestones as it aims for a “highly ambitious transformation.” He also went on to add,

“But we’re also keeping the things that set BitMEX apart from the rest: superior trading technology, ironclad security, and the biggest insurance fund in the business.”

Earlier last week, BitMEX became one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to disclose their carbon-neutral status while also pledging to offset emissions of all BTC transactions to and from the platform.