BitMEX, one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges to begin offering derivatives products like futures contracts, has announced the launch of a native token called BMEX. Token holders will be able to enjoy a host of benefits including trading rebates, better rates for the exchange’s Earn product, access to BitMEX’s trading academy, and more. The Seychelles-based crypto exchange plans to publish the BMEX whitepaper by the end of January 2022 and begin distributing the tokens on February 1, 2022, via airdrop to eligible users.
BitMEX states on its website that the BMEX token will have a maximum supply of 450 million vested over five years. Of that supply, 20 percent is already earmarked for BitMEX employees. The exchange will use “another 25 percent for [its] long-term commitment to the token and ecosystem.”
The first 50,000 new users who sign up before January 31, 2022 and complete BitMEX’s KYC protocol will receive 5 BMEX tokens and 10 Tether tokens. Users can earn an additional 15 BMEX tokens for getting three other people to do the same before the January deadline. Existing users can begin earning up to 25 percent of their trading fees in BMEX by simply trading on the exchange.
There’s no listing price of the value of each BMEX token as it will be determined by the market upon the launch of the company’s spot branch in early Q2. It’s worth noting that users will not be able to withdraw the tokens until the start of spot trading.
Founded in 2014 by Arthur Hayes, Samuel Reed, and Ben Delo, BitMEX was one of the first cryptocurrency exchanges in the market to begin offering derivatives products or agreements that let its holders buy or sell an asset at a specific date and a specific price.
As such contracts gained popularity over the years, it made BitMEX’s founders billionaires in the budding crypto world, BitMEX eventually came under regulatory fire over concerns that revolved primarily around the platform’s lax KYC rules.
Though the exchange eventually implemented more rigorous compliance measures in October 2020, BitMEX settled the issue with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in August 2021 for $100 million (roughly Rs. 752.22 crore) for failing to collect identifying information about its customers.
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