Cody McGrath 
Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX is introducing a spot crypto trading platform, the move is to help expand the platform’s offering beyond derivatives.
The BitMEX Spot Exchange, went online on May 17, allowing individual and institutional investors to buy, sell, and trade cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) (ETH).
At the time of launch, the exchange supports seven cryptocurrency pairs: BTC, ETH, Chainlink (LINK), Uniswap (UNI), Polygon (MATIC), Axie Infinity (AXS), and ApeCoin (APE), all of which are traded against the Tether stablecoin (USDT).
The Spot Exchange was launched with the goal of becoming one of the top 10 largest spot exchanges in the world. According to the release, the company chose to launch its own spot exchange last year in response to increased crypto trading demand from its present user base.
“Today, BitMEX takes another step toward providing our users with a complete crypto environment through which to purchase, sell, and trade their preferred digital assets.
BitMEX CEO Alexander Höpner stated, “We will not rest as we aspire to give more features, more trading pairs, and more methods for our clients to participate in the crypto revolution.”
BitMEX, one of the world’s largest and oldest cryptocurrency trading platforms, was founded in 2014, roughly six years after Bitcoin was established.
Unlike spot exchanges, BitMEX focuses primarily on derivatives, allowing users to purchase and sell contracts such as futures, options, and perpetual on a variety of crypto assets.
According to CoinMarketCap data, BitMEX is one of the top 30 largest derivatives crypto trading platforms at the time of writing, with a daily trading volume of $841 million. As of 2020, the exchange was rated with Binance as one of the largest derivatives marketplaces by open interest.
In February 2022, BitMEX founders Arthur Hayes and Hong Konger Benjamin Delo pleaded guilty to breaking the Bank Secrecy Act. In March, the court sentenced the three co-founders of the BitMEX crypto derivatives exchange to pay a total of $30 million in civil monetary penalties.
Following a failed takeover of the German bank Bankhaus von der Heyd, the company reportedly lay off roughly 75 people, or a quarter of its workforce, in April.