Bitcoin futures: BitMEX may get serious competition from Binance, FTX deal

Binance recently invested in the cryptocurrency derivatives platform, FTX, as a part of its strategic partnership. Binance purchased equity in the derivatives firm and also purchased long positions in the FTT token. The partnership will aim to leverage FTX’s platform to build liquidity and institutional products offered across the Binance ecosystem.

FTX, one of the largest Bitcoin futures exchange, reports around $500 million in daily volume, according to data provider, Skew. It also noted that in the past quarter Binance and FTX have registered a $1 billion in daily volume on a regular basis.

Source: Twitter

Binance and FTX entered the Futures market in 2019, and their strategic partnership has been touted as ‘A force in the making that didn’t even exist at the start of the year!’ by Skew. Binance had set a record in November when its volume inclusive of Bitcoin futures and swaps amounted to $2.5 billion.

Source: Twitter

Whereas, FTX peaked with $750 million volume in October.

Source: Twitter

Skew had earlier provided a cumulative list of exchanges’ BTC futures volumes that saw Binance on the fourth position and FTX on the seventh.

Source: Twitter

Apart from noting high BTC futures volume, the two exchanges were noted to be the second and third most liquid exchanges, when measured by order book depth.

Source: Twitter

With Binance and FTX joining forces, they could pose as a threat to BitMEX’s top position. BitMEX also ranked third on Skew’s top exchanges’ BTC Futures volumes and has been a major player in the BTC Futures market.

Binance’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao [CZ] commented on the partnership:

“The FTX team has built an innovative crypto trading platform with stunning growth. With their backgrounds as professional traders, we see quite a bit ourselves in the FTX team and believe in their potential in becoming a major player in the crypto derivatives markets. We are pleased to have an excellent partner joining the Binance ecosystem and aim to grow the crypto market together.”