Global crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX is expanding its platform beyond derivatives by finally launching a spot crypto trading platform.
BitMEX officially announced on May 17 that its spot crypto exchange, the BitMEX Spot Exchange, is now live, allowing retail and institutional investors to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). .
At launch, the exchange will support seven pairs of cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap (UNI), Polygon (MATIC), Axie Infinity (AXS), and ApeCoin (APE), all against the stablecoin Tether (USDT). traded ).
The BitMEX spot exchange launch comes as the company plans to become one of the top ten largest spot exchanges in the world. According to the announcement, last year the company decided to build its own spot exchange in response to increasing demand for crypto trading from its current user base.
“Today, BitMEX is one step closer to providing our users with a complete crypto ecosystem to buy, sell and trade their favorite digital assets. We will not rest as we strive to offer our clients more features, more trading pairs and more ways to participate in the crypto revolution,” said BitMEX CEO Alexander Höpner.
Founded in 2014, BitMEX is one of the world’s largest and oldest crypto trading companies, offering its services approximately six years after Bitcoin was launched. Unlike cash exchanges, BitMEX focuses primarily on derivatives, allowing users to buy and sell contracts such as futures, options, and perpetuals on a wide range of crypto assets.
At the time of writing, BitMEX is one of the top 30 crypto derivatives trading platforms with a daily trading volume of $841 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap. BitMEX has been ranked alongside Binance as one of the largest derivatives platforms by open interest as of 2020.
BitMEX has faced some legal troubles of late, with founders Arthur Hayes and Hong Kong native Benjamin Delo pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act in February 2022. The court eventually ordered a civil fine totaling $30 million against the three co-founders of BitMEX crypto futures exchange in March.
The company reportedly laid off about 75 employees — or a quarter of the company’s workforce — in April after a failed takeover of German bank Bankhaus von der Heyd.
BitMEX did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s request for comment. This article will be updated in anticipation of new information.