Exchanges Roundup: Ledgerx Readies ETH Futures, Coinbase Partners With Caspian

In recent news pertaining to cryptocurrency exchanges, anonymous sources have stated that Ledgerx is preparing to launch ETH futures trading, Coinbase has announced a partnership with Caspian intended to target institutional investors, and the chief executive officer of Binance has shared his opinions regarding “trans-fee mining” and decentralized exchanges.

Also Read: European Regulator Renews Restrictions on Crypto-Based Derivatives

Ledgerx Reportedly Readying to Launch ETH Futures

According to an anonymous source, cryptocurrency derivatives trading platform, Ledgerx, is readying to launch ETH futures.

The source states that the company has an Ethereum options product ready for launch, however, is currently awaiting regulatory approval for such. The source added that Ledgerx currently has a meeting with the United States Commodities Futures Trading Commission scheduled for the 5th of October.

At the start of September, Business Insider cited anonymous sources in reporting that The Chicago Board Options Exchange (CBOE) was readying for the launch of ETH futures markets. The source predicted CBOE’s ETH futures may go live by 2019.

Coinbase Partners With Caspian to Target Institutional Investors

Major U.S.-based cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has announced a partnership with Caspian to ”drive institutional participation in crypto.”

According to Caspian’s website, the company offers an “institutional grade […] asset management solution that covers the lifecycle of the trade,” with Caspian purporting to currently be providing services to 25 cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance, Bitfinex, Bitmex, and Gemini.

The chief executive officer of Caspian, Robert Dykes, stated: “We’re delighted to cement this important partnership with Coinbase, which will see one of the world’s leading digital currency trading venues join forces with one of the most exciting emerging crypto platforms.”

Kayvon Pirestani, director of institutional sales at Coinbase, stated: “By working together, Coinbase and Caspian will deliver institutional-grade order and risk management tools to the growing number of professional crypto trading firms around the world. Customers will be able to take advantage of the best elements of both platforms — accessing Coinbase’s extensive historical market data and deep pool of liquidity, and combined with Caspian’s suite of seamless trading tools. We see this partnership as not only a tremendous commercial opportunity, but as a chance to truly move forward the institutional adoption of crypto as a mature, tradable asset class.”

Binance CEO: Trans-fee Mining “Not a Threat,” Decentralized Exchanges “Are the Future”

During an interview conducted at the recent Consensus: Singapore 2018 conference, Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the chief executive officer and co-founder of Binance, dismissed the “trans-fee mining” model as posing no threat to Binance’s future, and shared his belief that “decentralized exchanges are the future.”

CZ described the trans-fee mining model as “damaging” to the cryptocurrency ecosystem, adding: “It’s not a threat. The exchanges will try to do that. The volume at the exchanges that have tried that have all come down. It’s a very complex way of raising money. The law of supply and demand tells us that since there’s always more platform tokens being issued, you can almost guarantee that the price will go down over time.”

CZ also expressed his bullish expectations for decentralized exchanges, stating: “I think decentralized exchanges are the future, but it’s going to take a few years to get there. For the foreseeable future, I think the volumes will not be as high. So, it’s more like an experiment. I think it’s more innovation; we’re still at the early stage of the industry.”

“Right now, most of the money is still in fiat. So, I think the sweet spot is actually to do the crypto-to-fiat exchanges,” he added.

Do you think that decentralized exchanges are the future? Share your thoughts in the comments section below!

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