Today Bitfinex Derivatives announced the open beta of its integration with Thalex, thanks to this integration any user of Bitfinex Derivatives will be able to access Thalex’s crypto options and futures products.
The objective is to reduce friction for Bitfinex Derivatives customers in onboarding, depositing, and trading on Thalex.
Bitfinex Derivatives and crypto futures options
Bitfinex Derivatives is the platform of the namesake exchange crypto dedicated to derivative products.
It was launched in September 2019 by iFinex Financial Technologies, the group to which the Bitfinex exchange also belongs, and offers a derivatives platform accessible through the same Bitfinex.
The exchange in turn allows the trading of digital tokens, addressing in particular traders and global liquidity providers.
Bitfinex is also effectively the primary market for the stablecoin USDT, issued by Tether. Tether in turn belongs to the iFinex group, and the bulk of the issuance and withdrawal of USDT tokens takes place precisely on this exchange.
Bitfinex Derivatives now has a crypto derivatives trading volume of about 100 billion dollars per day, making it one of the largest platforms in the world from this point of view.
The integration with Thalex – Crypto Options and Futures Open Beta is already available.
Thalex
Thalex is a crypto derivatives exchange founded in 2020 that offers options, futures, and perpetuals.
Utilize linear contracts and regulated in stablecoin, and combine the stability of the platform with a collaborative and innovative approach.
Its strength lies in the low commissions, the margin, and access to institutional-level connectivity.
Its goal is to empower traders by offering a simplified product, supported by reliable technology and open access to facilitate a level playing field between individuals and institutions.
Now, thanks to the new Beta, it can also integrate with crypto exchanges to allow seamless onboarding and transfers.
The collaboration
The collaboration with Thalex is a strategic initiative of Bitfinex Derivatives, aimed at providing its clients with a wider range of derivative contracts.
It also wants to be an innovative distribution model, in which the exchanges work together to facilitate the adoption of specialized products on new platforms like Thalex.
Both Bitfinex Derivatives and Thalex foresee significant growth in the trading volumes of crypto options and futures. In particular, this concerns options, as they represent only about 3% of the trading volume of crypto derivatives on Bitfinex.
The two exchanges believe that the growth of crypto derivatives other than the usual perpetual contracts is limited on the demand side by the lack of education, but also on the supply side by the lack of exchanges that offer linear contracts and regulated in stablecoin. The collaboration with Thalex aims to solve this latter problem.
Futures and options
Futures and options are widely used in the crypto sector because they allow you to do things that you cannot do on the classic spot market.
In particular, in the spot market, it is not possible to open short positions, and leverage cannot be used.
Furthermore, there are not even simple tools to create hedges for open positions.
Instead, not only do futures also allow the opening of short positions, that is, bear bets, but they also allow the use of leverage to increase gains, although this also increases the risk.
Additionally, options allow for easy hedging on both short and long positions that have been opened.
However, they are complex instruments to handle with care, suitable only for experienced traders.
The comment
The CTO of Bitfinex Derivatives, Paolo Ardoino, stated:
“We are pleased to announce today the launch of the public beta of the integration with Thalex for Bitfinex Derivatives customers. Crypto derivative products, such as futures settled via stablecoin and option instruments, are fundamental to ensuring a more stable and orderly market, and we anticipate significant demand for these features.”
The CEO of Thalex, Hendrik Ghys, added:
“Options and dated futures complete the perpetuals. Futures allow you to lock in the carry cost of a delta position while options provide access to non-linear profits and exposure to volatility. Together, Options and Futures expand a trader’s toolkit with more ways to hedge or generate yield.”