Popular cryptocurrency exchange OKEx has partnered with the Mumbai-based CoinDCX crypto exchange to help it develop a derivatives trading platform, DCXfutures, in return for a foothold in the subcontinent’s crypto market.
According to a press release, Indian investors will be able to use CoinDCX’s derivatives trading platform to trade futures, using leverage of up to 15x provided by OKEx. Indian investors will be able to trade a total of nine cryptocurrencies, including BTC, ETH, XRP, and LTC.
The platform will also offer both institutional and retail investors perpetual futures contracts for both bitcoin and ether. OKEx will be provided with liquidity, connectivity, and insight into the Indian cryptocurrency market, which has been recovering from a blanket ban imposed by the country’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
During the 2017 cryptocurrency boom, an estimated five million Indians were trading crypto, but the ban was imposed in 2018. It ordered financial institutions to stop dealing with businesses involved with cryptocurrency trading.
As a result some local cryptocurrency exchanges, including Koinex, shut down. The country’s Supreme Court ended up asking the RBI to justify its position on cryptocurrency businesses, and is now set to rule on whether it acted outside its justification with the ban.
Addressing the partnership Zaz Zou, head of OKEx India, said:
India is primed to be the driving force behind the mass adoption of cryptocurrencies, which is why we are keen on adding more equitable currencies to the ecosystem.
Zou added OKEx believes having a variety of options to transact cryptocurrencies will “bolster the growth of economy in India as it positively impacts both crowdfunding and institutional funding.” Credit rating and audit firm Crebaco Global calculated that the Indian crypto scene, if properly regulated, could have an immediate size of $12.9 billion.
CoinDCX’s CEO and co-founder Sumit Gupta noted in the document that the firm has been witnessing a “rapidly growing demand for futures trading among Indian cryptocurrency market.” Its futures platform isn’t yet available to the general public, but will be launched sometime in Q2 2020.
Featured image via Pixabay.
