Arkham Intelligence, a blockchain data firm, is reportedly planning to launch a cryptocurrency derivatives exchange as early as next month.
Following this announcement, the firm’s token, ARKM surged by more than 16%.
New exchange for the retail traders
According to a Bloomberg report, Arkham’s new exchange will focus on retail traders and will compete with established platforms like Binance.
The company is currently working on obtaining a license in the Dominican Republic, where it intends to operate the exchange.
The crypto derivatives market is rapidly growing, driven mainly by retail investor activity.
In September alone, trading volume for crypto derivatives exceeded $3 trillion, a big increase from about $1.5 trillion just one year earlier.
The rise in adoption is fueled by the availability of various crypto derivatives products on major exchanges.
For example, the Chicago Mercantile Exchange launched its Bitcoin Friday Futures on September 29, claiming it was the “most successful crypto futures launch ever.”
This launch resulted in a record first-day trading volume for crypto futures, with over 31,498 contracts traded across two contract weeks.
The BFF contracts are sized at one-fiftieth of a Bitcoin, similar to Coinbase’s nano Bitcoin futures that are sold in increments of one-hundredth of a BTC.
Traders likes derivatives
On October 8, Crypto.com’s North American derivatives exchange, Nadex, also introduced derivatives contracts tied to popular memecoins like Pepe and Floki Inu.
It further listed contracts related to Dogelon Mars and BONK, as noted in filings with the CFTC.
Looking ahead, options on Bitcoin ETFs are expected to launch in the United States by the first quarter of 2025.
New revenue streams for Arkham
Arkham is recognized for its tools that help track blockchain transactions and identify entities linked to various crypto wallet addresses.
The firm has raised $12 million from well-known investors, including Sam Altman, the founder of OpenAI.
With its token ARKM experiencing a nice increase following the news of the upcoming exchange launch, so Arkham’s entry into the derivatives market could further stimulate the general interest and the trading activity.
