On January 7th, the cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX We are excited to announce the launch of "Equity Perpetual Contracts" (Equity Perps). This innovative derivative trading product allows traders to invest in major U.S. equities and indices using cryptocurrency as collateral. This release marks a significant expansion of BitMEX's product offerings beyond the crypto market, breaking the time constraints of traditional U.S. stock market hours and enabling users to trade traditional equity assets 24/7.
A stock perpetual contract is a cash-settled derivative with no expiration date, designed to track the price movements of individual U.S. equities or indices. Similar to BitMEX's existing cryptocurrency perpetual contracts, this product uses a funding rate mechanism to ensure the contract price remains closely aligned with the underlying reference index. Traders can use Bitcoin or USDT as collateral to trade long or short positions with up to 20 times leverage.
Stephan Lutz, CEO of BitMEX, said, "Equity perpetual contracts allow traders to leverage their crypto assets to access the U.S. stock market in a more flexible manner. By eliminating the constraints of traditional trading hours and introducing cryptocurrency as collateral, we bring BitMEX's renowned reliability and high performance to a broader global market, further extending our expertise in the derivatives space."
Initial Listing and Trading Mechanism The initially listed contracts cover popular U.S. stocks and indices, including Amazon, Apple, Circle, Coinbase, Meta, Nvidia, Robinhood, Tesla, as well as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices. BitMEX plans to gradually expand the range of contracts in the future. Trading is open 24/7. Regarding the pricing mechanism, during U.S. stock trading hours, the index price is primarily based on real-time stock prices. During U.S. market holidays or after-hours, it is supported by tokenized spot prices from multiple exchanges.
Fee and Settlement Rules: All equity perpetual contracts on BitMEX offer a 2.5 basis points (bps) rebate for makers and a 7.5 bps taker fee. Funding rates are settled every 8 hours, consistent with BitMEX's existing perpetual contract mechanism, regardless of whether U.S. equity markets are open. For corporate actions such as stock splits, affected contracts will be settled in advance and relisted after the relevant actions are completed.
To celebrate the launch of our new product, BitMEX is launching a special promotion with a total prize pool of 70,000 USDT. Eligible users can participate in sharing the rewards by trading equity perpetual contracts and also enjoy maker rebates on all contract trading. For more product guides and educational resources, please visit BitMEX Official WebsiteandOfficial Blog.
About BitMEX
BitMEX is a pioneering exchange in cryptocurrency derivatives trading, providing professional cryptocurrency traders with a platform that meets their needs through low latency, deep native cryptocurrency liquidity, and unmatched reliability.
Since its inception, BitMEX has never lost any cryptocurrency due to a breach or hacking attack, allowing BitMEX users to trade with confidence while ensuring they have access to the products and tools needed to be profitable.
BitMEX is also one of the earliest exchanges to publish on-chain proof of reserves and proof of liabilities data, releasing these data twice a week to demonstrate the secure storage and segregation of client funds.