Bitcoin dated futures with physical settlement go live on Eqonex

Eqonex previously said it was engaged in discussions on the potential merger or takeover options in late 2021.

The Nasdaq-listed digital assets financial services company Eqonex has launched a new type of Bitcoin (BTC) investment product, a BTC dated futures contract with a physical settlement.

Announcing the news on Wednesday, Eqonex explained that its BTC dated futures are denominated in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin and increase in parallel with the BTC price increase against USDC.

In contrast to perpetual futures, which have no maturity limit, dated futures expire at a pre-set date and time frame like each month or each quarter, Eqonex noted. “Any position in a perpetual future stays open until the trader decides to close the trade by executing an offsetting trade, or until the trade gets liquidated by Eqonex,” the firm added.

According to the announcement, the Eqonex BTC dated futures contract expires at 08:00 UTC on the final Friday of the expiry month, with physical settlement occurring automatically on the expiry date. Users can trade the new BTC futures contract with leverage.

Eqonex also expects to introduce dated futures for additional cryptocurrencies including Ether (ETH) “in the coming months.”

Eqonex’s interim CEO Andrew Eldon pointed out that there is still a “gap in the exchange marketplace to better serve traders who are looking for safe access to products and strategies from traditional finance to exploit and hedge against the volatility of crypto market trading.”

“We are removing the barriers to entry by delivering a regulated crypto exchange, and by adding institutional-grade products to our customers’ toolkits,” Eldon said.

Related: Derivatives are coming to Coinbase, following purchase of FairX

The news comes soon after Eqonex announced that it was engaged in strategic discussions with third parties including the evaluation of merger or takeover options in December 2021. The news came in conjunction with the firm appointing Eldon as interim CEO, replacing former CEO Richard Byworth.