Tag: Poloniex

Announcing The Launch of Ether Classic 5x Leveraged Futures

Arthur Hayes

ETC is a special chain quoting the Ethereum Classic pre-fork chain, which is the chain created by the original Ethereum code as it existed before the hard fork.

ETC has proven a very popular digital currency right out of the gate. As a result, BitMEX is pleased to announce the world’s first Ether Classic futures contract, ETC24H.

ETC24H Contract Details:

  • Each contract is worth 1 ETC
  • The underlying is the Poloniex ETC/BTC exchange rate
  • Margin, profit, and loss are all in Bitcoin
  • Leverage of 5x
  • Expires each day at 12:00 UTC, based on the 11:30 UTC to 12:00 UTC time weighted average price of ETC/BTC
  • More details

Traders can go long or short ETC24H using only Bitcoin. No ETC is required.

To begin trading, deposit Bitcoin to your BitMEX account. Then you can place buy or sell orders on ETC24H.

Trade Lisk With Leverage And Bitcoin

Arthur Hayes

Lisk trading launches Friday, May 27 at 12:00 UTC.

Have you heard of Lisk? It’s the hottest new altcoin. It just completed its Initial Coin Offering, raising US$6 million. The coin is now trading on the secondary market. Trading volumes and the price are surging.

Essentially Lisk is a clone of Ethereum, but the scripting language is JavaScript. Whether you are a super bull or think Lisk belongs in a landfill, BitMEX now offers a way to speculate on Lisk using on Bitcoin.

Introducing LSKXBT

LSKXBT is a leveraged trading product that allows traders using only Bitcoin to go long or short Lisk with up to 3.33x leverage. The leverage will increase as liquidity improves.

Each LSKXBT contract is worth 1 LSK, and quoted in XBT. The underlying of LSKXBT is the Poloniex LSK/XBT exchange rate.

LSKXBT does not have an expiry date. Buyers will receive the Poloniex LSK funding rate (when it becomes available, currently set at 0%), and pay the XBT funding rate. Shorts receive the Poloniex XBT funding rate, and pay the LSK funding rate. Read Swaps 101 to learn more about how it works.

Going Long LSKXBT

If you have some Bitcoin, you can go long LSKXBT with leverage.

You want to go long 10,000 LSKXBT contracts. The current price is 0.0001 XBT. The Bitcoin value of 10,000 LSKXBT contracts is 1 XBT. Because BitMEX offers 3.33x leverage, you only have to put up 30% * 1 XBT or 0.3 XBT to go long 10,000 contracts.

The price increases to 0.0002 XBT. Your profit is (0.0002 XBT – 0.0001 XBT) * 10,000 contracts or 1 XBT.

Going Short LSKXBT

If you have some Bitcoin, you can go short LSKXBT with leverage. There is no need to borrow LSK to short it. That’s one of the main benefits of trading BitMEX products.

You want to go short 10,000 LSKXBT contracts. The current price is 0.0001 XBT. The Bitcoin value of 10,000 LSKXBT contracts is 1 XBT. Because BitMEX offers 3.33x leverage, you only have to put up 30% * 1 XBT or 0.3 XBT to go short 10,000 contracts.

The price decreases to 0.00005 XBT. Your profit is (0.00005 XBT – 0.0001 XBT) * -10,000 contracts or 0.5 XBT.

Start Trading Today

To start trading, all you need is a BitMEX account and Bitcoin. The Lisk market opens tomorrow (Friday May 27) at 12:00 UTC.

Register Here

Start Trading

Ether Margin Trading vs. Futures Contracts

Arthur Hayes

Soon after spot Ether trading began, leveraged products on the Ether/Bitcoin (ETHXBT) appeared. BitMEX was the first exchange to offer leveraged trading via a futures contract called ETH7D. The leading spot ETHXBT exchanges Poloniex and Kraken, have just started offering margin trading. This post will explain the differences and costs of margin trading vs. futures trading of ETHXBT.

Margin Trading

Margin trading requires that traders borrow Bitcoin to go long ETHXBT, and Ether to go short ETHXBT. Traders will then place their leveraged orders into the spot order book. The ability to borrow Bitcoin and Ether is not a sure thing. On Poloniex and Kraken other users must lend out their excess Bitcoin or Ether. If there is no supply, margin trading cannot happen. The interest rates paid are very volatile and can be expensive at times.

Futures Trading

The BitMEX ETH7D futures contract expires weekly every Friday. Each contract is worth 1 ETH, and traders must post Bitcoin as margin to go long or short. BitMEX allows 5x leverage. This means that there is no need to borrow ETH in order to short the ETHXBT exchange rate when using ETH7D. There is no daily interest rate charged either. The difference between where you buy or sell ETH7D and the current spot ETHXBT rate at the time represents an implied interest rate. For traders who have Bitcoin, ETH7D represents the easiest and cheapest way to go both long or short with leverage on ETHXBT.