“An exchange that does not support futures trading cannot be called a real cryptocurrency exchange.” Although this sentence sounds a bit exaggerated, it is undeniable that futures trading is as important as spot trading.
Future trading statistics
The above point is borne out by transaction data in the cryptocurrency market. Although the bear market continues, the trading volume of the perpetual futures market in Q2 is still stably recorded at $1 trillion. In contrast, cryptocurrency spot monthly trading volume fell to $0.9 trillion in Q2.
In fact, the rising trading volume of futures products started during the bull market period from June 2020 to March 2022. According to TokenInsight, the trading volume of the entire cryptocurrency market in 2021 was $112 trillion, while the annual trading volume of perpetual futures reached $57 trillion (50% of the trading volume). Compared with the total derivatives trading volume in 2020, it was an increase of 358%.
The popularity of futures trading is therefore observable. The cryptocurrency exchange MEXC was established in April 2018, and it’s the world’s leading one-stop cryptocurrency trading platform integrating spot, margin, a leveraged exchange-traded fund (ETF), futures trading and staking services. Currently, the platform supports perpetual futures trading of more than 120 cryptocurrencies. It is the platform with the most tradable categories and provides the best liquidity for futures trading.
MEXC at a glance
Comparing the contract depth indicators of trading platforms, such as Binance, Bybit, MEXC, OKX, Huobi and Bitget, and analyzing the futures trading of the top 50 mainstream tokens by market value show that the top three trading platforms in terms of depth performance are MEXC, Bitget and Binance.
Simply put, the liquidity for futures trading refers to the size of the trading volume at different levels — that is, the trading depth. Good liquidity can promote low-cost trading, and the smaller the spread, the easier it is to trade. The better the depth, the better it can withstand the test of extreme market conditions and avoid accidental liquidation.
For example, during the period from Aug. 4 to Sept. 1, within the range of 0.05% of the median price, the futures trading depth of BTC/USDT on MEXC increased from 60 million Tether (USDT) in early August to 100 million USDT. However, the contract depth of BTC/USDT on Bitget was around 30 million USDT, while the Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual contract depth of other trading platforms was much lower than that of MEXC and Bitget.
Similarly, the futures trading depth data of ATOM/USDT and LTC/USDT indicates that the trading depths of MEXC, Bitget and Binance are still in the top three. In terms of ATOM/USDT futures trading, MEXC has the best trading depth. The trading volume is around 375,000 USDT, with the highest hitting 480,000 USDT.
By analogy, selecting mainstream cryptocurrencies, such as XRP, Polkadot (DOT), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), Shiba Inu (SHIB), Solana (SOL), BNB, etc., within the range of 0.05% of the median price, indicates that the liquidity of MEXC’s futures trading is currently the best performing.
The MEXC futures product was launched in Q4 2018, and its trading system and products were significantly upgraded in June 2020, focusing on the stability of the trading system, basic depth, security risk control and user experience.
At that time, in the traditional international derivatives market, products such as foreign currency, futures and options accounted for more than 80% of the market share.
In contrast, derivatives trading (including futures trading) was recorded at only $12.4 trillion in the crypto derivatives market. However, the development of the crypto derivatives market signified the development trajectory of the traditional market to a certain extent — e.g., the entry of Bakkt Bitcoin futures contracts of Chicago Mercantile Exchange, Chicago Board Options Exchange and International Currency Exchange into the crypto market.
While the volume of the crypto market is gradually growing, whether it is large institutional capital or retail investors, their awareness and utilization of the crypto derivatives market have improved.
Therefore, MEXC optimized and upgraded the “high-quality futures” as a key product at that time and made breakthroughs in core elements such as system stability and liquidity. Through four years of continuous efforts, the liquidity of MEXC futures trading of the top 50 tokens in terms of the current market capitalization has been ranked first in the world.
About MEXC
MEXC is the world’s leading cryptocurrency trading platform, providing one-stop cryptocurrency trading services for spot, ETF, futures, staking, NFT Index, etc., and serving more than 7 million users worldwide. In October 2021, MEXC Global won the “Best Cryptocurrency Exchange in Asia” award. Currently, it supports the trading of more than 1,400 cryptocurrencies, with the fastest launch speed for new projects and the most tradable categories. Visit the website and blog for more information, and follow MEXC Global and MEXC Research.