BitMEX Slips Behind Binance and OKEx for Bitcoin Futures Trading Volumes

All News All News Except Press Releases Crypto Imported

Bitcoin derivatives exchange BitMEX has slipped to third place in 24-hour trading volume for Bitcoin futures.

Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives exchange BitMEX has fallen to third place in 24-hour trading volume for Bitcoin futures. 

Data from Skew analytics on March 23 reveals that the derivatives giant, founded by Arthur Hayes, is reporting $2.45 billion in 24-hour futures volume, as against Binance’s $2.48 billion and OKex’s $3.08 over the same time frame.

24-hour trading volumes for Bitcoin futures contracts on major exchanges.

24-hour trading volumes for Bitcoin futures contracts on major exchanges. Source: skew.com

Mid-term trends

Earlier this month, aggregated open interest in BitMEX’s futures contract took a steep plunge from $1.2 billion on March 12 to $745 million the following day, and down to $607 million on March 13.

Aggregated BTC futures open interest across major trading platforms, Feb. 23-March 22

Aggregated BTC futures open interest across major trading platforms, Feb. 23-March 22. Source: skew.com

While this sharp downturn was mirrored across Bitcoin futures trading platforms, as of March 22, open interest on BitMEX remained down 55% from March 12 — at $535 million — and 64% down on the month, since Feb. 23.

As compared with this, open interest on Binance and OKex is down 27% and 43% since March 12 respectively, and 47% and 61% down since Feb. 23.

While all platforms have apparently taken hits amid the coronavirus-driven global market downturn, BitMEX’s relatively sharper losses come into sharper focus against the backdrop of recent data from its counterparts. 

Binance’s monthly report published on Feb. 26 had revealed a strong uptrend in trading volumes across the exchange’s futures perpetual contracts for January 2020.

The report revealed an 85% increase in volume over the preceding month, with a daily average of $1.7 billion and a highest single-day volume of $3.5 billion on Jan. 14.

A week of controversy

Beyond volume losses, BitMEX has this week been mired in a controversy over a mass liquidation event on its platform, during which BTC/USD crashed 60%.

Amid what some have diagnosed as a cascading margin call, the platform went offline for roughly 35 minutes — leaving the exchange to fend off accusations of foul play.

BitMEX continues to face questions as to why its considerable insurance fund — containing over 35,000 BTC — was not used to help during the incident.

Source: , CoinTelegraph

Facebook Comments