OKEx exchange recorded over 8,000 “whale” Bitcoin (BTC) trades in June; more than any other exchange. It also had the honor of recording the largest such trade — 513.1 BTC according to data from Kaiko. Number of Bitcoin whale (≥10 BTC) trades by exchange. Source: Kaiko. Whales prefer USDT over USD In Kaiko’s nomenclature, “whale” trades are 10 BTC and above. OKEx also led in terms of average whale trade size, which was just above 33 BTC. More big trades are happening on exchanges that support BTC-USDT pairs than BTC-USD pairs: “This report also shows that more whale trades are …

OKEx CEO Jay Hao recently noted customer service as a pivotal aspect of business, as part of an interview with Cointelegraph. “I think definitely customer service is crucially important,” Hao said. “After all, the customer is king.” The crypto space is still young The crypto industry arguably began with the inception of Bitcoin more than 10 years ago. As part of a young sector, many crypto and blockchain companies are still finding their sea legs in their products, services and offerings, while others look to perfect their operations. Customer feedback can be a crucial part of such development. “Without customers’ …

OKEx, a major global cryptocurrency exchange, is embracing the Latin American crypto market by launching a fiat gateway for three local currencies. According to a July 3 announcement, OKEx users can now buy Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) in exchange for the Argentine peso (ARS), the Brazilian real (BRL), and the Mexican peso (MXN) via a direct bank transfer. OKEx implements Settle Network’s Latamex tool OKEx’s partnership with a company called Settle Network allowed them to enable these features. Settle Network is claimed to be the largest digital settlement network in Latin America. The new service is provided through Latamex, …

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx have just listed Compound’s COMP token for trade. COMP is the native token of Compound — a DeFi protocol that allows its users to earn interest on deposits or lend cryptocurrencies. Lending and borrowing on Compound are managed through a decentralized peer-to-peer blockchain-based protocol. After its 2017 launch, the platform grew to reach the top spot among all the DeFi services based on the total value of assets locked, according to DeFi Pulse. According to the same source, there are currently nearly $628 million currently locked in the ecosystem. As Cointelegraph recently reported, COMP has suffered heavy …

On June 26, $675 million worth of Bitcoin options expired, while industry experts remain divided on its potential effect on price volatility. Some believe the record expiration date will cause Bitcoin (BTC) to see a large price movement. With less than 24 hours until the highly anticipated expiration, Bitcoin’s price dropped by 7% on a single day on June 24. Traders speculate the drop was partially triggered by the uncertainty in the United States’ stock market. A rising number of coronavirus infections and concerns around the high unemployment rate led to an overall increase in caution toward risk-on assets, including …

Jay Hao, the CEO of crypto exchange OKEx, suggested that a second United States stimulus plan could result in Bitcoin’s (BTC) price growing further. In a LinkedIn post on Monday, Hao explained that after the first $2.2 trillion stimulus bill was signed in late March, Bitcoin surged by around 58% from $6,580 to $10,400. He cited a recent Bloomberg article reporting that Trump administration officials expect to spend another $1 trillion to stimulate the American economy amid the coronavirus crisis: “Will the second stimulus check continue to drive Bitcoin price growth? In my opinion, it is very possible.” Hao noted …

Ether (ETH) options are having a fantastic year, with open interest on Deribit — the largest market for these options — having surged 315% to $158 million over the past two months, breaking the $150-million barrier for the first time ever. Even though Ether first came about only to serve the users of the Ethereum platform as a wallet to use with the apps developed on the platform, it has in the recent past emerged as the clear competitor to Bitcoin (BTC), being the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Emergence of ETH options ETH options mostly emerged in March 2019 …

Peer-to-peer Bitcoin (BTC) marketplace Paxful is integrating its platform with major cryptocurrency exchange OKEx. According to an announcement on June 15, the partnership will offer several payment methods for OKEx users through Paxful’s Kiosk to buy Bitcoin with over 160 fiat currencies, together with bank transfer, gift cards and online wallets, among others. Paxful customers will be able to access different trading options such as spot, margin, and futures trading, as well as the derivatives markets through OKEx's decentralized platform, DEX. Speaking with Cointelegraph, CEO and co-founder of Paxful Ray Youseff said: “The partnership between OKex and Paxful will open …

Cryptocurrency exchanges have an important role in driving adoption around the world, but even the biggest operations face significant challenges when trying to expand their services. The advent of Bitcoin (BTC) and the subsequent development and launch of numerous other cryptocurrencies have changed the way people look at transacting across the world. Dependency on traditional banking systems is no longer the only option available to people. Blockchain networks and cryptocurrencies are able to bypass conventional financial systems and allow people to transact directly, without having to go through a centralized institution. In an ideal, cryptographically secure world, users would transact …

The repeal of the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) crypto ban has driven a boom in exchanges launching in India, offering hope that the growth of a robust local industry will incentivize lawmakers to maintain India’s permissive regulatory apparatus. In March, India’s Supreme Court repealed the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) ban on financial institutions providing banking service to businesses operating with virtual currencies — legitimizing India’s cryptocurrency firms. In recent weeks, Indian startup Tradehorn became the latest domestic exchange to launch, local derivatives platform Delta Exchange announced strategic funding from New York-based CoinFund to expand operations, and new fiat-to-crypto …

Crypto derivatives volumes have hit a new record high in May 2020. The early generation of crypto investors mostly worked with a hold-and-sell perspective. With the inevitable evolution of the market and the advent of cryptocurrency derivatives, investors with varied agendas — such as the desire to trade Bitcoin (BTC) volatility in both directions, hedging against major market movements, mitigating risks, etc. — began to flock to this asset class. Derivatives are complex financial instruments that enable these agendas but often prove to be overwhelming for inexperienced and uninitiated investors to manage. As derivatives are pegged to an alternative asset …

Cryptocurrency exchange OKEx announced the launch of Ether (ETH) options contracts on its trading platform. According to a June 4 announcement, following today’s launch of ETH options, OKEx will also launch EOS options contracts on June 18. The firm also announced that it placed 1,000 ETH in the ETH Options insurance fund to prevent clawback. OKEx promotes options as a trading risk hedge Per the announcement, options allow traders to buy or sell the underlying asset to hedge risk and maximize profits. The announcement explains how the contract differs from futures: “Different from futures, holders don’t have to buy or …