Cryptocurrency Futures: Analyzing the Market
Trading cryptocurrency futures is a relatively new екутв that exploded in popularity in the digital currency world a few years ago. Crypto futures trading allows traders to speculate on the price swings of digital currencies in the future.
Unlike spot trading, when traders buy and sell crypto at the current market price, futures trading means purchasing or selling a token at a predetermined price on a set future date. In this article, we take a look at the basics of cryptocurrency futures trading and what exchanges offer this option.
What Are Crypto Futures
Before we dive into crypto futures trading, let’s figure out what are crypto futures. Contracts to buy or sell a specific cryptocurrency at a previously determined price and date are referred to as cryptocurrency futures. So, it’s similar to all other futures types, but instead of conventional assets, traders exchange cryptos.
The contract’s buyer promises to acquire the cryptocurrency at a later date, while the seller commits to supply the cryptocurrency at a specific price. The current spot price of the underlying crypto, the market sentiment, interest rates, and supply/demand are the factors that determine the price of the futures contract.
Futures can be:
- Long, when the trader believes the digital asset’s value will increase in the future.
- Short, when the trader believes contrary to the former type of contract happens, the crypto’s value decreases.
The contract can be made in cash or by transferring cryptocurrency.
Crypto Futures Market Trends
The cryptocurrency futures market has experienced a significant surge during the latest years. Let’s see what is futures trading crypto volume. Binance is one of the most popular crypto futures trading platforms, and on this platform alone, the daily volume reaches $51 billion!
The expansion of the futures market can be linked to several reasons, such as increased digital currency acceptance across various industries, increased retail trader interest, and the possibility for better profits compared to spot trading.
Bitcoin (BTC) is the most popular cryptocurrency for futures trading at the moment, and many platforms offer BTC futures contracts. However, other cryptocurrencies are gaining more popularity and recognition in the futures market.
Experts recommend looking at ETH, LTC, and XRP. Futures trading in these cryptos has grown in popularity due to their high liquidity and volatility, which makes them appealing to traders trying to profit from price movements.
Market Analysis
The futures crypto market works similarly to traditional futures markets, so it is affected by the same events and trends. For instance, the crypto futures market can be affected by economic indicators, market sentiment, geopolitical events, people mass buying or selling crypto, etc.
However, it’s worth mentioning that, unlike the traditional futures market, the crypto one is notoriously volatile. Thus, the market is subject to large price swings, which attracts experienced traders who gain big profits from these changes.
Traders interested in entering the bitcoin futures market should be well-versed in technical analysis and risk management tools to avoid huge and unexpected losses. It’s worth taking time and learning how to do technical analysis, which requires checking charts and market data to detect trends and prospective price movements. As for the risk management tools, they are critical to avoid losses when you can’t immediately react to price movements.
Top Crypto Futures Exchanges
As mentioned, traders are attracted to crypto futures markets because of the volatility factor. However, despite the huge popularity of crypto and increasing recognition of crypto futures in particular, not that many exchanges offer this trading opportunity. Thus, let’s see some of the most reliable and convenient platforms to trade crypto futures.
Binance
Binance is one of the most popular crypto exchanges in the world. The exchange is adored by regular traders and big investors, and corporations. One of its biggest appeals is the high liquidity of Bitcoin and Ethereum, which are the most popular digital currencies in the world.
Binance is a safe platform and requires all users to undergo a thorough verification process. Binance offers futures trading and convenient tools such as risk management to ensure that users have the proper tools to trade successfully.
WhiteBIT
WhiteBIT is a crypto exchange that provides trading services such as converting fiat to digital currency, trading, and crypto futures trading. WhiteBIT’s crypto futures feature allows traders to speculate on the future price movements of chosen cryptocurrencies.
WhiteBIT provides long and short futures contracts for a variety of cryptocurrencies. Users can trade futures in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and other popular coins. Traders can customize their trading approach to their preferences and risk tolerance by selecting from a number of dates and leverage options.
BitMEX
BitMEX is a futures trading platform that prides itself on its performance, adherence to all regulations, and transparency. This futures trading platform now offers over 30 different trading pairs with convenient fees. As a regulated trading platform, it requires comprehensive KYC and verification from users.