Simply put
- OKX offers regulated perpetual futures tied to ICE’s Brent and WTI benchmarks for non-U.S. traders.
- The move increases competition from Hyperliquid, the leading decentralized platform for such derivatives.
- The development coincided with a Justice Department and CFTC investigation into questionable oil bets before the announcement.
OKX said in an announcement Friday that traders outside the U.S. are gaining access to crypto-native derivatives modeled after Intercontinental Exchange’s energy benchmark, underscoring Wall Street’s efforts to counter hyperliquid’s surge.
The international cryptocurrency exchange and parent company of the New York Stock Exchange is targeting traders in the UAE, Europe, Australia and Singapore, and claims the move is a “major step forward in expanding regulated access to global commodity markets through digital asset infrastructure.”
OKX’s derivatives, known as perpetual futures, are pegged to the price of ICE’s Brent and WTI crude futures, allowing traders to speculate on a moment-to-moment basis in a market that has become increasingly popular since the Middle East conflict blocked the Strait of Hormuz.
“Oil markets are critical to the global economy,” OKX Global Managing Partner Haider Rafiq said in a statement. “Bringing them into regulated perpetual futures is exactly the bridge between traditional and digital markets that market participants have been looking for.”
The proposal comes ahead of major announcements about the Iran war by President Donald Trump and senior Iranian officials, and as the Justice Department and CFTC reportedly investigate billions of dollars worth of suspicious oil transactions. ABC News.
Earlier this week, Hyperliquid’s policy arm pushed back In response to market health concerns brought to the attention of regulators by ICE and CME Group; bloomberg. These fears are reportedly due to the unregulated nature of the decentralized exchange’s platform, which does not require customers to complete know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.
HyperLiquid, which debuted in 2023, has emerged as the undisputed leader in providing open access to perpetual futures. Unlike traditional futures, they do not expire and can remain open indefinitely, backed by regular payments between traders.
HyperLiquid currently has $9.6 billion in outstanding trades on its platform, while Binance reportedly dominates the crypto derivatives market with $26 billion in nominal open interest. CoinGecko. Meanwhile, OKX’s measure on Friday was $8.2 billion.
Hyperliquid’s native token recently traded around $60.18, up 39% in the past seven days. This was not far from the all-time high the digital asset hit the previous day.
