BitMex, a popular cryptocurrency exchange that allows traders to enter leveraged positions, has recently added EOS futures contracts to its platform, giving its users the ability to short or long the cryptocurrency with up to 20x leverage.
The crypto exchange has in the past offered EOS futures contracts, but ultimately removed them in order to offer BTC, ETH, BCH and other contracts in a high-quality trading platform that wouldn’t end up failing. Its announcement notes that now, given significant performance improvements, its ready to relaunch them.
BitMex’s blog post reads:
“As a result of the increased capacity and due to popular demand, we will be listing the BitMEX EOS Token / Bitcoin 29 June 2018 futures contract, EOSM18, on or before 7 June 2018 07:00 UTC.”
The new futures contracts are notable, as EOS has recently been embroiled in controversy. As covered CryptoGlobe covered, the cryptocurrency’s price surged after Block.one, the company behind it, released EOSIO 1.0, marking the end of the “longest ICO in cryptocurrency history.”
EOS notably raised $4 billion through this ICO, and the cryptocurrency became extremely hyped ahead of its mainnet’s launch. Cortical vulnerabilities were, however, uncovered by Chinese cybersecurity researchers who claimed hackers could exploit EOS to take over the network and gain access to billions of dollars.
Dan Larimer, founder and chief technology officer, responded to the researchers by claiming the vulnerabilities had been fixed, and that these only existed in the code of third-party libraries. As a follow-up, a $10,000 bug bounty program was launched to reward those who find “major” vulnerabilities.
EOS’s mainnet launch was initially scheduled for June 2. While blockchain snapshots have already been taken, at press time the cryptocurrency’s mainnet still hasn’t launched, although available information suggests the event could happen later today.
EOS Mainnet Launch Update – 1300 UTC call: the security audit is not finished but no show-stopping bugs have been found. Next joint call at 0100 UTC may yield a “GO” decision. If a “GO” decision is made a joint statement will be drafted and released with instructions. #eoslaunch pic.twitter.com/oHCEQBP8YP
— EOS New York (@eosnewyork) June 7, 2018
The cryptocurrency’s less-than-stellar developments, that allegedly could’ve seen hackers rake in billions of dollars, saw various users criticize it on social media. Moreover, recent reports have shown nearly 50 percent of the tokens are currently owned by only 10 holders.
On social media, EOS proponents and detractors have been battling over whether the cryptocurrency has a future or is worth anything. Those who are battling, as BitMex CEO Arthur Hayes seemingly implies, can now short or long it:
Is $EOS a shitcoin or the real deal Holyfield? Trade $EOSM18 with 20x leverage on BitMEX. https://t.co/yEJ7iDjcqY
— Arthur Hayes (@CryptoHayes) June 7, 2018
At press time, CryptoCompare data shows EOS is down by 0.71 percent in the last 24-hour period, and is currently trading at $13.96 per token, with its market cap sitting at $13.9 billion.
