BitMEX options platform will launch in ’12 to 18 months’ says CEO Arthur Hayes

Cryptocurrency derivatives platform BitMEX will launch an options product in 12 to 18 months according to the company’s CEO Arthur Hayes, who was speaking on the Venture Coinist podcast over the weekend.

BitMEX currently offers futures markets on Bitcoin and a range of altcoins while also supporting perpetual swaps for Ethereum and Bitcoin.

The firm implemented ‘up and down’ contracts that have similarities to options contracts in 2018, but Hayes is looking to implement an innovative options platform in 2020.

“We hope to possibly have our own options platform in maybe 12 to 18 months,” Hayes said.

“We have somebody working with some university professors on a complicated new way of doing this.”

BitMEX is a market leader in terms of liquidity and trade volume, regularly topping one billion dollars worth of daily trade volume on Bitcoin perpetual swaps alone.

In March, Hayes revealed his price prediction for Bitcoin in 2019, with his forecast seeing the digital asset rise to $10,000 by the end of the year.

However, the former Citigroup trader also predicted that Bitcoin would top $50,000 by the end of 2018 while speaking on a panel for CNBC.

BitMEX has also been working on research and education, with a report being released last month on the Lightning Network and how users can earn one percent per annum by staking Bitcoin.