In 2019, FTX made noise in the crypto sphere when one of the biggest exchanges in the market, Binance, invested a huge sum of undisclosed funds. The exchange made its way to the headlines once more when it took part in the GameStop rally in January 2021 by including the GME token. This feat propelled the exchange’s growth even further, especially among gamers.
What’s so special about this crypto exchange and does it have the potential to change the tides in the crypto market? If you’re curious to know more, read this comprehensive guide here at Cryptoshimbun.
What is FTX exchange?
At its core, FTX exchange is designed for derivative assets, such as stocks, bonds, commodities, interest rates market indexes that are not available in other crypto exchanges. In FTX, users can trade derivatives that have the same value as the asset they want to purchase.
Marketed as a ‘cryptocurrency exchange built by traders for traders’, the FTX offers a wide range of crypto investments options such as volatility products, leveraged tokens and of course, derivatives. What makes FTX a good exchange is that it has an inclusive interface that beginners and seasoned traders can easily navigate.o
When it was launched in April, the FTX was already listed as an exchange with the most liquid order books. They had already facilitated at least more than $100m transactions per day.
According to the company’s vision, they aim to follow the steps of Bitmex and OKEx a year after their release. With their goal to merge traditional investment assets and the innovative features of crypto exchanges, they can give more options for digital asset users and traders.
FTX features you should know about
FTX has several features worth knowing about. Understand how the exchange works when you read about the following concepts:
Futures
Futures are trading bets that determine whether the price of a certain will have an upward or downward movement. This also means that this derivative instrument can implement a predetermined date and price to the parties involved in the transaction.
FTX also has a ‘perpetual futures’ feature, which are future contracts that don’t have an expiration date. This means that the price of perpetual futures are regularly updated to keep the prices in check.
As of writing, there are at least 80 tokens offered in the exchange’s portfolio. They have a diverse selection which includes major and minor cryptocurrencies. Additionally, FTX also offers privacy tokens, exchange tokens and regional baskets.
FTXMOVE Contracts
Another feature of FTX is the FTXMOVE contracts which allows users to settle their trades based on the status of the cryptocurrency in the market. What makes this feature special is that traders can opt to place small investments. This type of contract expires that can range on a daily, weekly, monthly or quarterly.
Spot markets
Spot market is one of the most functional features of FTX. What this feature does is allow users to buy cryptocurrencies and then trade them through traditional methods through a match order. Some of the most popular assets on FTX used for spot markets include BTC, ETH, LINK, BCH, BNB, USDT, BTMX, TRYB, PAXG and XAUT. The spot market feature is ideal for traders who want instant profits because it’s designed for ‘on the spot’ buy and sell transactions.
Tokenized stocks
Tokenized stocks is a unique feature of FTX that allows users to put their investments in traditional assets exchanged on different platforms such as Tesla, Amazon and Netflix. What makes this feature useful for traders is that they can widen their options when it comes to investing in other types of stocks or assets.
Prediction markets
Prediction market is a feature of FTX that allows users to speculate or ‘bet’ on the future of an event that can affect the market instead of a financial asset. For example, during the 2020 Presidential election, the FTX launched a prediction that enabled users to place their trades on contracts named after the candidates.
FTX: Meet the FTT token
FTX exchange has a native token called FTT. With this token, the exchange is able to harness its features by offering cheaper trading fees, socialized games through the FTT insurance funds and as a form collateral for users who want to engage in futures trading.
This token is available on major exchanges such as Binance, Bitmex and CoinEx to name a few. Additionally, the FTT can also be utilised in sport markets and exchanged through these pairings: FTT/USD, FTT/USDT and FTT/BTC.
The consensus protocol for FTX is through FTT staking. Traders who participate as stakers in the exchange can enjoy the benefits of new maker schedule fees, bonus votes and increased referral rebate rates.
The masterminds behind FTX
Sam Bankman-Fried, CEO and Founder
FTX was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, a trader in Jane Street Capital’s International ETF desk. Before he established FTX, used to offer various kinds of assets such as futures, currencies and equities. The exchange was developed to address the issue regarding futures exchanges and make them more accessible to people. He’s considered as one of the youngest millionaires in the crypto space as of today.
Gary Wang , CTO and Founder
Along with Sam, Gary Wang is also one of the founders of the FTX exchange. Before he joined the FTX team, Wang worked as a software engineer in Google. He’s one of the people who’s responsible for aggregating prices on the exchange.
Nishad Singh, Head of Engineering
Nishad Singh is the Head of Engineering in the FTX exchange. Prior to joining the team, he worked as a software engineer and interned for various tech companies. He also worked for well known agencies such as Facebook and Alameda Research. He holds a degree in BS Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley.