All articles tagged with #crypto derivatives
Ostium, a decentralized exchange founded by Harvard graduates, has raised $20 million in Series A funding to develop a platform for trading derivatives on real-world assets and cryptocurrencies, aiming to compete with traditional brokerages and target non-U.S. investors outside the crypto-native community.
Bitcoin's recent surge above $117,500 was driven mainly by short-covering in derivatives, leading to over $1 billion in liquidations and a drop in open interest, indicating that the rally may be fragile without new inflows. Analysts suggest that the current momentum is fueled more by derivatives activity than spot demand, and caution that the rally's sustainability depends on future market inflows. The weakening US dollar and signs of economic slowdown support Bitcoin's bullish outlook, but traders remain cautious about the rally's durability.
Bitcoin experienced a sudden drop to $61,000, causing over $255 million in liquidations, but has since recovered to nearly $63,000. The broader crypto market has followed a similar trajectory, with the global market capitalization at $2.4 trillion. Crypto derivatives traders have faced significant losses, with over $700 million in long contracts liquidated over the weekend. Despite the upcoming Bitcoin halving, some experts believe that global liquidity improvements may have a more significant impact on the markets. However, uncertainty remains regarding the timing of liquidity improvements, with concerns raised about the potential impact of the halving on crypto asset prices.
Bitcoin's price volatility has surged, with BTC trading 6.8% higher at $62,992 and 30-day realized volatility reaching 46%. Crypto derivatives volume has hit a record high, indicating increased risk appetite. Bitcoin miners are selling more coins amid rising prices, while Morgan Stanley is considering offering spot bitcoin ETFs to its customers, potentially opening liquidity floodgates. Additionally, trading volume on yield tokenization protocol Pendle Finance has surpassed $100 million, setting a new record.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved Bitnomial, a crypto derivatives company, to register as a derivatives clearing organization. This approval allows Bitnomial to settle margined futures and options contracts, including margined bitcoin futures and options tied to bitcoin futures for U.S. investors. The CFTC commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of Bitnomial's application, with the company already having approval to operate as a designated contract market and a futures commission merchant. Bitnomial CEO Luke Hoersten expressed the company's intention to expand its product offering and customer base now that the licensing process is complete.
Coinbase has received approval from the National Futures Association (NFA) to operate a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) platform, allowing the exchange to offer crypto futures to U.S. retail customers. This regulatory victory is seen as significant for Coinbase and the crypto industry, especially as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has accused Coinbase of avoiding registration. The approval positions Coinbase alongside traditional finance firms and expands its addressable market, tapping into the global crypto derivatives market. Coinbase shares dropped slightly on the news but have seen a significant increase this year.
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair, Rostin Behnam, has stated that the Binance case is a clear evasion of the law. The CFTC has sued Binance and its CEO, Changpeng Zhao, for allegedly offering unregistered crypto derivatives products, violating laws against offering futures transactions, failing to register as a futures commissions merchant, and poorly supervising operations. Court documents filed on Monday contained internal chats from Binance, including one from the exchange’s chief compliance officer, Samuel Lim, who allegedly said, “On the surface we cannot be seen to have U.S. users but in reality we should get them through other creative means."
The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed a lawsuit against Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), alleging that the company knowingly offered unregistered crypto derivatives products in the U.S. against federal law. The suit also alleges that Binance directed its employees to spoof their locations through the use of virtual private networks. The CFTC is charging Binance with violating laws around offering futures transactions, “illegal off-exchange commodity options,” failing to register as a futures commissions merchant, designated contract market or swap execution facility, poorly supervising its business, not implementing know-your-customer or anti-money laundering processes, and having a poor anti-evasion program.