We are pleased to announce the appointment of Malcolm Wright as Chief Compliance Officer of 100x Group, the group behind HDR Global Trading Limited, owner and operator of the BitMEX platform. This will see Malcolm lead 100x Group’s compliance efforts globally while reporting directly to Vivien Khoo, Interim Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer....Read More
We’re currently seeing a diverse set of different cryptocurrencies trying to establish their roots in the global financial landscape. With this, the demand for platforms that allow crypto users to exchange between different assets also continues to grow. Crypto swaps and exchanges make it possible for the average crypto user to have easy access to...Read More
Abstract: We examine the short seven year history of decentralised exchanges (dexes), including the first significant iteration of the technology, Counterparty. We consider why these early attempts failed and how they evolved into the Uniswap protocol we have today, with its clever mechanism for inducing and managing liquidity. We explore Uniswap, its copycats and how...Read More
Abstract: We have installed the Blockstream Bitcoin Satellite system, a way to download and verify Bitcoin’s blockchain via satellite, without the need for an internet connection. We were able to set up the system reasonably quickly and the satellite connection does indeed have enough bandwidth to keep the node at Bitcoin’s tip, most of the...Read More
Last week, as Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency, dropped down close to $10,000, the markets got tense. After nearly a month over $10,000, with the better part of it pushing and pulling against the $12,000 mark, a massive 13 percent drop over two days was a cause for concern. But now, one week on from...Read More
We are committed to ensuring BitMEX is fair and efficient for all our users, and this is why we will be introducing a Quote Value Ratio (QVR) Trading Rule from 00:00:00 UTC on 15 September 2020, initially in “Warning Only” mode for a period of one week. This is part of our ongoing efforts to...Read More
Crypto Spot Volumes Soar, with Top Tier Exchanges Dominating In August, Top-Tier volumes increased 58.3% to $529bn while Lower-Tier volumes increased 30.2% to $291bn. Top-Tier exchanges now represent 64% of total volume (vs 60% in July). Binance (Grade A) was the largest Top-Tier exchange by volume in August, trading $124.9bn (up 83%). This was followed...Read More
Source: The Grapes Of Wrath – 1940 I lack access to nightclubs and most other forms of revelry; therefore, I decided to become a crypto peasant. I’m farming the latest and greatest shitcoin DeFi projects. While I deride many of these projects as activity resulting in economic waste, there is an underlying proto-banking infrastructure that...Read More
Abstract: We provide a follow up to our previous piece, a comparison between the Antminer S19 Pro and the Whatsminer M30S+. We focus on the thermal characteristics of the miners and provide thermal images. The thermal images indicate more clearly that the Whatsminer has a higher operating temperature than the Antminer, while both devices have...Read More
Abstract: We compare and measure various performance metrics for two of the latest and most energy efficient Bitcoin mining products, MicroBT’s Whatsminer M30S+ and Bitmain’s Antminer S19 Pro. Obviously the more expensive 7nm Bitmain product is more powerful, however the miners are pretty similar in terms of output. Our data over a short three day...Read More
Top-Tier Exchange Volumes Surge, Gaining Market Share In July, Top-Tier volumes increased 42.1% to $334bn while Lower-Tier volumes decreased 38.1% to $224bn. Top-Tier exchanges now represent 60% of total spot volume. Deribit Options Volumes Set New Record, Tripling Previous High Deribit’s options volumes have set a new all-time daily high in July, dwarfing the previous record by...Read More
Bitcoin’s recent burst past $12,000 was unlike the first, and is potentially a sign of things to come. Over a week ago, on 2 August, when Bitcoin rose past $12,000 for the first time since June 2019, its price dropped by 8 percent within the hour. The rapid rise tested a bull trap where trigger...Read More
Abstract: Bitcoin’s Taproot softfork upgrade looks almost ready and the Bitcoin community has started to seriously discuss the potential activation methodologies. In this piece, we summarise the main choices when it comes to the activation and discuss the most significant points of contention. We conclude by postulating that there is no perfect activating methodology. Any...Read More
We are launching a LTCUSD quanto perpetual swap contract with up to 33x leverage on 30 July 2020 at 04:00 UTC. This is the fifth quanto contract to be launched on the BitMEX platform, offering users further diversification of trading opportunities. It follows the successful introduction of the XRPUSD and BCHUSD quanto perpetual swaps and...Read More
Abstract: This piece is written by Bitcoin Core contributor and researcher, Gleb Naumenko. Gleb is a recipient of 100x Group’s Bitcoin developer grant program. In this article Gleb writes about how Bitcoin Core connects to other nodes on the network. He first provides some background about the latest default connection policy in Bitcoin Core 0.20.0,...Read More
When Ben, Sam and I came together in 2014 to launch BitMEX, we endeavoured to create a derivatives trading platform worthy of the future potential of the cryptocurrency capital markets. We set about building a fair, transparent, efficient and highly secure platform. We’ve come a long way since those early days, and are immensely proud...Read More
Crypto Volumes Plummet in June In June, both Top Tier volumes and Lower Tier spot volumes decreased drastically to $177bn (-36%) and $466bn (-53%) respectively. Spot volumes have gradually dwindled throughout the month of June, now representing roughly half of the daily volumes seen in the previous month. Institutional Options Volumes on CME Hit New...Read More
Since HDR’s inception just over five years ago, the company has grown and developed dramatically, and through the BitMEX platform, we’re well recognised as a fast-growing and pioneering financial technology company. With an eye for the long-term growth, development and success of the company, we are always looking to attract brilliant people to join our...Read More
We’re very pleased to announce that OKCoin and HDR Global Trading Limited (which owns and operates the BitMEX cryptocurrency trading platform) are each providing a US$75,000 grant, totaling US$150,000 over 12 months, to Bitcoin Core developer Amiti Uttarwar. The HDR element of the grant is based on the open-source template grant contract. As dedicated supporters...Read More
Abstract: We look at the history of Bitcoin mining ASIC manufacturers, in particular the reported energy efficiency of the mining machines. We analyse the five main players in the market today, with a focus on Canaan and its profit warning right after its IPO. We then evaluate Ebang’s recent IPO prospectus and comment on the...Read More
Key Highlights Crypto Derivatives Volumes Hit an All-time High in May Derivatives volumes across all platforms soared in May. Volumes for all crypto derivatives increased 32% in May to an all-time high – totalling $602 bn. What’s more, crypto derivatives are gaining market share. Total spot volumes increased only 5% to $1.27 tn in May,...Read More
We are launching a BCHUSD quanto perpetual swap contract with up to 25x leverage on 16 June 2020 at 04:00 UTC. This is the fourth quanto contract to be launched on our platform and follows the successful introduction of the ETHUSD quanto futures contract on 05 May 2020 and the XRPUSD swap contract on 05...Read More
Abstract: This piece is written by Bitcoin Core maintainer and BitMEX guest writer, Michael Ford. Michael is the first recipient of the expanding HDR Global Trading Limited Bitcoin developer grant program. This follows on from Michael’s first piece for us: Build Systems & Security – Bitcoin Is Improving. In this new piece, Michael explains four...Read More
According to an online monitoring web portal called, Under the Breach, a hacker is purportedly trying to sell customer information that stems from companies like Keepkey, Trezor, Ledger, and even the investment platform Bnktothefuture. The hacker doesn’t seem to have any passwords, but is offering detailed information that was stolen from an alleged Shopify breach...Read More
(Source: Space Ibiza Nightclub) In the beginning there was Jack.And Jack had a groove.And from this groove came the groove of all grooves.And while one day, viciously throwing down on his box, Jack boldly declared “Let there be house!” And house music was born. I dream of thumping house music, neon lights, and mental disorientation...Read More
Abstract: Due to numerous requests, we provide a follow up to our February 2019 piece, “Anatomy Of The Next Global Financial Crisis”. We update our thinking following the pandemic driven crash and liquidity driven recovery in financial markets. We no longer think long dated volatility related bets are an effective way to protect portfolios because...Read More
The total fallout of the recent Bitcoin block reward halving has yet to be determined. One thing is apparent: more funds has been withdrawn from exchanges in recent days, further confirming that people are primarily intent on holding. There is always an ample supply of Bitcoin on exchanges and trading platforms. Moving More BTC off...Read More
In mid-April, news.Bitcoin.com reported on a great number of BTC withdrawn from cryptocurrency trading platforms and after the third BTC halving, the trend has picked up once again. Data from Glassnode’s Bitcoin Exchange Net-Flow statistics show that close to 24,000 BTC has been withdrawn since May 11. Additionally, statistics from Bituniverse’s exchange reserve data indicate...Read More
The Indian cryptocurrency industry has been growing rapidly despite the nationwide lockdown and the coronavirus crisis. Two new cryptocurrency trading platforms are launching in India while existing crypto businesses seek clarification from the central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). New Cryptocurrency Trading Platforms Launching in India The crypto sector in India is showing...Read More
Executive Summary April 30th Saw Historic Volumes Ahead of Bitcoin Halving In April, crypto spot markets saw another historic daily volume record, totalling $66.2bn on April 30th – as Bitcoin soared above $9,000. While this doesn’t match the daily volumes seen on March 13th ($75.9bn), it still represents the second highest volumes experienced on record. The...Read More
