Bit.com to Launch Industry’s First Bitcoin Cash Options

Bit.com, the secure and high-performance derivatives exchange by Matrixport, will be launching Bitcoin Cash (BCH) perpetual swaps and options. BCH options trading will go live on 01 Feb 2021, following the launch of BCH perpetual swaps on 20 Jan 2021.

Bit.com’s offering of Bitcoin Cash options is the first of its kind in the industry. Bitcoin Cash has been in the limelight as one of the major cryptocurrencies recognized by institutions and constantly ranks No. 6 or 7 on the Top 10 list. However, there has been no options market for BCH and the liquidity of the perpetual swaps also has room for improvement.

To put things into perspective, Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) derivatives market grew tremendously during the past few years, and so did their relative shares of the underlying spot trading volume. Currently, the cryptocurrency perpetual swaps market is dominated by BTC, which accounts for ~53% of the market share, while ETH attributes to 20%. BCH takes only 1% of the crypto perpetual swap market share, which is disproportionate to the relative market share of the underlying asset.

Similar to the options market, the market is hugely dominated by BTC (accounts for ~90%) while ETH takes up the rest, the options market for other major crypto and/or altcoins are close to non-existent. In short, the BCH derivative market is far from maturity compared to its size and underlying price volatility. With Bit.com’s product launch, this gap in the market will soon be filled.

About Bit.com

Bit.com is an institutional-grade derivatives exchange launched by Matrixport, a one-stop financial services company based in Singapore. Since its inception in August 2020, Bit.com has launched BTC and ETH perpetual swap and options, which are greatly welcomed and actively traded by both institutional and individual users. In the first five months of its launch, Bit.com’s total transaction volume exceeded USD 6 billion and is on the way to take a bigger market share. At the moment, the exchange records between USD 100-200 million trading volume on a daily basis.

With industry-leading technology, security, and risk management, Bit.com aims to provide users with a superior trading experience and best-in-class liquidity. The platform has strategically positioned itself to serve both institutional and individual users around the world that includes miners/hedgers, prime brokers, proprietary traders, and hedge funds. This diverse customer base enables Bit.com to provide more efficient and representative price discovery, which ensures the most competitive spreads. In terms of security, Bit.com’s system is built by a world-class team of risk management and IT experts. Furthermore, funds of the platform are backed by a compliant institutional custodian–Cactus Custody, in pursuit of the highest grade of security.

With its first-in-class product offers and performances, Bit.com has been recognized as one of the top cryptocurrency derivative exchanges. According to data from Skew, Bit.com is the second-largest cryptocurrency option exchange in the world in terms of turnover as well as open interest.

Why did Bit.com decide to enter the BCH derivatives market?

As one of the major cryptocurrencies widely traded by institutions, Bitcoin Cash has good potential and huge market demands. Not only does BCH rank among the top 10 cryptos in terms of market cap, but the number of active addresses has also been growing over time. More importantly, Bitcoin Cash is one of the major Proof-Of-Work coins that enjoys vast support from miners. Miners, on the other hand, are a key component of Bit.com’s clientele. The launch of BCH derivatives by Bit.com enables miners to hedge against risks associated with BCH volatility, which helps make their operation more stable and efficient. More specifically, miners can lock in profits in advance while generating additional cash flow by selling covered calls; or can hedge against downward price moves by buying protective puts. Users can make use of comprehensive derivative trading strategies made possible by liquid perpetual swap and options market to construct various payoff profiles to best serve their interests.

Being the first to launch the product will help Bit.com take a vantage point in this blue ocean market. The current cryptocurrency derivatives market is far from saturated and has great potential to grow in following years, we will continue to see the new pairs listing and improved liquidity, which leads to further expansion of the market. While trading platforms are playing catch-up, Bit.com is providing unique value by building an active BCH derivatives marketplaces on top of the current BTC and ETH markets and adding real users to the game.