30s Summary

Blockchain analysis firm Arkham Intelligence has launched a cryptocurrency exchange for trading derivatives, with the aim of competing with established platforms such as Binance. The exchange will offer live blockchain transaction checks and reserve audits, and trading is set to start next week. However, it will not be available to customers in the US. The move comes amid a major upswing in crypto derivatives trading, with market volume doubling year-on-year to reach $3 trillion in September. In other development, offerings in the sector continue to grow, with plans for Bitcoin ETF options to launch in the US by Q1 2025.

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Arkham Intelligence, a company known for analyzing blockchain data, has kicked off a new cryptocurrency exchange that trades in derivatives (fancy word for a type of financial contract). They announced this on November 6. Normal traders are the main folks they’re aiming for, looking to give other exchanges like Binance some competition.

Arkham’s exchange won’t just have their data analysis behind it but also live checks of blockchain transactions and reserve audits (proof-of-reserve). Trading will begin next week. However, if you’re in the United States, you won’t be able to use this exchange.

Cryptocurrency derivatives trading is soaring, with a lot of action coming from regular investors. This type of trading actually crossed $3 trillion in volume back in September, doubling from the volume it had a year ago. More and more crypto derivatives products are popping up, even in established exchanges like the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME).

The crypto world was buzzing on September 29 when CME launched the Bitcoin Friday Futures, declaring it the biggest launch ever in crypto futures. Then, in 2022, Coinbase launched a derivatives exchange in the United States, making crypto futures available to its countless American users.

Fast forward to October 8, where Crypto.com’s North American derivatives exchange, Nadex, kicked off derivatives contracts related to meme coins like Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI). And they didn’t stop there. They also launched derivative products for Dogelon Mars (ELON) and BONK.

Expect options on Bitcoin exchange-traded funds to be around in the US by the first quarter of 2025, according to Bloomberg analyst, James Seyffart. And we might see an explosion of crypto products after Donald Trump’s win in the US presidential elections on November 5.

Arkham Intelligence is more than just a crypto exchange provider. They’re also known for creating handy tools for tracking blockchain transactions and figuring out the entities tied to different crypto wallet addresses. The firm managed to raise $12 million from investors, including Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI, so they’re definitely a player to watch in the crypto world.