Crypto Derivatives Exchange Spins Off From Coinfloor, Plans Stablecoin Futures

CoinfloorEX, a bitcoin futures market, has been spun off from its parent company Coinfloor Group and will relaunch next month, offering a novel derivative product: stablecoin-to-stablecoin futures.

The new entity, renamed as CoinFLEX (Coin Futures and Lending Exchange), will focus on Asian retail customers and offer 20x leverage. The new futures contract will allow traders to exchange tether (USDT) for another cryptocurrency designed to hold its value with the U.S. dollar, USD Coin (USDC), in order to ease cryptocurrency trading across the markets, the company said. It did not respond to a request for clarification about its stablecoin futures market by press time.

CoinFLEX will be owned by a consortium of investors, including Trading Technologies, Roger Ver, Mike Komaransky, Dragonfly Capital Partners, Global Advisors, B2C2, Amber AI, Grapefruit Trading and Alameda Research.

The new platform will take advantage of Trading Technologies' trading software. "This is the first time Trading Technologies has been an investor in an exchange," Michael Unetich, the vice president of cryptocurrencies at Trading Technologies, said a press release. He said his company will also connect CoinFLEX with its customer base.

Coinfloor Group, which will retain an equity stake in CoinFLEX, reported transferring some ranking team members to the new exchange, including Coinfloor's co-founder Mark Lamb, who relocated from London to Hong Kong to serve as a CEO of CoinFLEX.

"The market needs physical delivery in order for derivatives to become an order of magnitude larger than they are today," Lamb said in the press release, referring to how its futures contracts are settled with actual bitcoin. By contrast, the bitcoin futures contracts at the major Chicago exchanges, Cboe and CME Group, are settled in cash, and no actual bitcoin changes hands.

"We are ready to serve crypto’s needs and massively grow the market," Lamb added.

Coinfloor, a spot exchange, is currently the No. 127 crypto exchange by 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinMarketCap.

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