Blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence has launched a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange, according to a Nov. 6 announcement. The exchange will reportedly target retail traders and compete with existing platforms such as Binance. It will integrate Arkham’s research and feature live on-chain audits and proof-of-reserve (PoR), Arkham said in a post on the X platform. Trading will commence next week but the exchange will not be available to people in the United States, Arkham said.
The crypto derivatives market is exploding, largely driven by trading activity from retail investors. Crypto derivatives trading volume exceeded $3 trillion in September, up from approximately $1.5 trillion one year prior, according to a report by CCData. Crypto derivatives products are proliferating, including on established exchanges such as the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME). On Sept. 29, CME’s Bitcoin Friday Futures (BFF) debuted in what the derivatives exchange dubbed the “most successful crypto futures launch ever.” In 2022, Coinbase Derivatives Exchange launched in the United States, bringing crypto futures to Coinbase’s tens of millions of American users. On Oct. 8, Crypto.com’s North American derivatives exchange, Nadex, listed derivatives contracts tied to memecoins including Pepe (PEPE) and Floki Inu (FLOKI). It also listed derivative products tied to Dogelon Mars (ELON) and BONK, according to Oct. 7 Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filings. Options on BTC exchange-traded funds (ETFs) are likely to launch in the United States by the first quarter of 2025, according to James Seyffart, a Bloomberg Intelligence analyst. Analysts expect crypto products to proliferate after Republican candidate Donald Trump’s victory in the US presidential elections on Nov. 5. Bitfinex researchers anticipate a “new wave of hope” entering crypto markets following Trump’s election win as federal agencies to adopt a less hostile stance on crypto.
Arkham is best known for offering a popular tool for tracking blockchain transactions and identifying the entities associated with various crypto wallet addresses. It raised $12 million from investors including Sam Altman, the founder of ChatGPT maker OpenAI.