By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 29th, 2024
Bitfinex, a Seychelles-based cryptocurrency exchange has expanded its product offerings to include volatility futures for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH), giving users the opportunity to bet on expected price performance of the two leading digital assets.
In an official announcement on April 3, 2024, the company said the newly launched perpetual contracts are available to users on the company’s derivatives platform called Bitfinex Derivatives. The derivatives-focused platform was made accessible by Ifinex Financial, the parent company of both Bitfinex and Tether Holdings.
Bitfinex Users Can Now Wager on BTC and ETH Futures Contracts
The new products, Bitcoin Implied Volatility Index (BVIV) and Ethereum Implied Volatility Index (EVIV), are based on the Volmex Implied Volatility indexes. These indexes are derived from real-time options for BTC and ETH, indicating the expected price turbulence over a 30-day period.
Additionally, the company said the perpetual contracts serve as a counterpart to Wall Street’s VIX index, which gauges fear in the market based on options tied to the S&P 500 index.
Jag Kooner, the head of derivatives at the company, told Cointelegraph that the new products offer customers a “simple format” to trade perpetual contracts.
The Bitfinex executive also stated that perpetual futures are the most popular format in the crypto space, as they eliminate the need for a fixed expiration date:
“Tracking the 30-day implied volatility in Bitcoin and Ether options contracts without the need to roll – i.e., dated futures – opens up the product to both retail and institutional investors alike.”
Available for Trading Starting on April 3
Kooner further disclosed that the new contracts are part of Bitfinex’s offering of over 60 perpetual futures contracts, which include cryptocurrencies, commodities such as precious metals and oil, FX, and equities. He also said that the new contracts will allow the exchange to add implied volatility as another asset class on the platform.
Bitfinex said the two products will be available for trading starting today, April 3, 2024. The futures contracts, denominated, margined, and settled in Tether’s stablecoin USDT can be traded under the ticker symbols BVIVF0:USTFO for BTC and EVIVFO:USDTFO for Ether.
Meanwhile, Bitfinex’s launch of BTC and Ether volatility futures follows Deribit’s introduction of standard futures contracts linked to its bitcoin volatility index, DVOL, 12 months ago.