A leading Asian derivatives exchange founded by eight ex-Morgan Stanley execs has launched a
membership program that allows for fee-less crypto spot trading. Phemex, which supports six trading pairs, is pricing its Premium membership at $9.99 USDT per month, $19.99 for three months, or $69.99 for 12 months.
Existing and new traders can sample the perks of a Premium membership by taking advantage of a seven-day trial, with packages purchased thereafter entailing no renewal obligation. Premium members, meanwhile, can gift a month-long Premium trial to friends and family.
Volumes Soar as the Halving Hits
Based in Singapore but operating globally, Phemex has established itself as a major player in the derivatives market since opening its virtual doors in December 2019. Unlike competitors such as BitMEX, the platform provides both BTC and USD settling. It also benefits from a powerful CrossEngine able to handle 300,000 transactions per second.
Phemex timed its introduction of zero-fee spot trading to coincide with bitcoin's third halving, which occurred at approximately 3:21 EST on May 11. The halving has been eagerly anticipated for months, with many industry voices predicting that it could spark a bull run as in 2012 and 2016. Even those who disagree with that assertion, and contend that the halving has already been priced in, would not refute that it represents a significant moment in bitcoin's evolution.
The anticipation of the halving saw record volumes on another Singapore derivatives exchange, Bybit, with bitcoin futures crossing the $4.2 billion mark on May 10. The Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME) also saw volume ramp up in the weeks preceding the supply-cutting event, with a record 216 bitcoin options contracts exchanged on May 6. As for bitcoin options open interest, it's surpassed $1 billion for the first time.
Markets Bubble as the Post-Halving Era Begins
Like industry giants, Huobi, Binance, OKEx, and BitMEX, Phemex will be hoping to capitalize on surging interest from traders as the effects of the halving continue to be analyzed. In the past 24 hours, volume on bitcoin perpetual contracts has exceeded $315 million.
Bitcoin has exhibited increased volatility of late, although it is still up almost 30% compared with 30 days ago. In any case, volatility has long been a driver of derivatives trading. .
Since launching in December, Phemex has grown its user base to 100,000, a figure that's sure to increase when traditional financial products are introduced. Premium traders can take advantage of its latest fee-less spot trading product from May 11. Previously, fees were set at 0.075% for the taker and -0.025% for the maker, across all trading pairs. Eligible swaps against USDT are BTC, ETH, LINK, XRP, XTZ, and LTC. Phemex also recently added GOLD/USD to its suite, with plans to support other traditional products such as S&P 500 stocks, interest rates, and metals later in the year.
