In brief
- OKX is rolling out regulated perpetual futures tied to ICE’s Brent and WTI benchmarks for non-U.S. traders.
- The move intensifies competition with Hyperliquid, the leading decentralized platform for such derivatives.
- The rollout coincides with a DOJ and CFTC investigation into suspicious, pre-announcement oil bets.
Traders located outside the U.S. are gaining access to crypto-native derivatives modeled on Intercontinental Exchange’s energy benchmarks, OKX said in an announcement on Friday, underscoring Wall Street’s efforts to counter Hyperliquid’s rapid rise.
The international crypto exchange and New York Stock Exchange parent are targeting traders in the UAE, Europe, Australia, and Singapore, billing the move as “a major step forward in expanding regulated access to global commodity markets through digital asset infrastructure.”
The derivatives offered by OKX, known as perpetual futures, will be tied to ICE’s prices for Brent and WTI oil futures—allowing traders to speculate around the clokc on a market that’s drawn increasing attention since conflict in the Middle East choked the Strait of Hormuz.
“Oil markets are critical to the world economy,” OKX Global Managing Partner Haider Rafique said in a statement. “Bringing them into regulated perpetual futures is exactly the kind of bridge between traditional and digital markets that market participants have been asking for.”
The offering comes as the Justice Department and CFTC reportedly probe billions of dollars’ worth of suspicious oil bets that hit the tape before major announcements by President Donald Trump and a top Iranian official regarding the war in Iran, per ABC News.
Earlier this week, Hyperliquid’s policy arm pushed back against market integrity concerns that ICE and CME Group have brought regulators’ attention to, per Bloomberg. Those qualms were reportedly rooted in the unregulated nature of the decentralized exchange’s platform, which doesn’t require customers to complete know-your-customer (KYC) procedures.
Hyperliquid, which debuted in 2023, has emerged as the undisputed leader in offering open access to perpetual futures, which, unlike traditional futures, never expire and can be held open indefinitely, anchored by periodic payments between traders.
Although Hyperliquid’s platform currently has $9.6 billion tied up in outstanding trades, Binance dominates the market for crypto derivatives at $26 billion in notional open interest, according to CoinGecko. The measure, meanwhile, stood at $8.2 billion for OKX on Friday.
Hyperliquid’s native token recently changed hands around $60.18, a 39% increase over the past seven days. That wasn’t far off from an all-time high notched by the digital asset the day before.
