Crypto exchange Bitfinex is planning to expand its product offerings by introducing crypto options and gold-backed digital currency, among others.
The prospect was revealed by the exchange's chief technology officer Paolo Ardoino on Tuesday while talking to The Block in a podcast.
Bitfinex’s sister company Tether operates the widely used USDT stable coin, which is backed by US dollars. The new proposed bullion-backed digital currency will also be issued by the same company, considering its proposed name as Tether-Gold. Ardoino, however, did not disclose further details of the upcoming cryptocurrency.
The company aims to bring the crypto options as early as the first quarter of next year and is currently working with external market makers to ensure Liquidity .
Per the CTO, the developers of the crypto exchange are now focused on the development of Tether-based swaps, and the company aims to leverage the wide market of Tether for its new products.
In addition to that, the crypto exchange partnered with a number of industry players to enable its clients to purchase a range of products using crypto gift cards.
“It's important that people can see the farther value of having Cryptocurrencies rather than just trading back and forth between Bitcoin and USD or whatever,” Ardoino said.
Changing trend in the industry
Crypto derivative offerings are becoming the new trend of the nascent industry. Many industry players are trying to enter the sector, amid the massive demand for trading with such products.
Bakkt, which launched physically-delivered Bitcoin futures last September, saw a significant surge recently despite a dim launch. Meanwhile, platforms like Binance are offering leverage up to 125x on crypto-to-crypto futures contracts.
CME Group in the US is also set to introduce Bitcoin options next year.
However, in Asia, the Hong Kong regulator is skeptical of the crypto futures and recently issued a warning against such contracts.
