BitMEX Will Never Have as Many Coins as Binance, CEO Explains

Arthur Hayes, the co-founder and CEO of BitMEX, a cryptocurrency exchange popularly known for trading Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with up to 100x leverage, was recently interviewed by Luke Martin, a prominent crypto analyst and trader.

Per the interview, the prominent individuals discussed the future of BitMEX, current cryptocurrency developments happening in the space, Bitcoin’s outlook for 2019, and more.

BitMEX Will Not Add More Coins

Early in the interview, Martin asked Hayes if BitMEX would be adding any more cryptocurrencies to its platform, as it currently features only 4 cryptos: Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Litecoin (LTC), and XRP.

To Martin’s surprise, Hayes responded by saying they will not be adding any more cryptocurrencies to BitMEX. Explaining why, the co-founder said that derivatives trading requires significant liquidity in the spot market, and other random cryptocurrencies do not provide this liquidity.

Adding to this, he said:

“So you know, in my opinion, the futures market should always be tighter and trade larger than the underlying of this derivative. And that only happens if you have sufficient liquidity in the spot market.”

He then said that if BitMEX listed random coins from CoinMarketCap, the market makers would not be able to hedge the risks as the spread would be too wide. This, he says, would be terrible for their clients.

“From a client perspective, as a terrible experience, I’m treating a leveraged product that has a wider spread Than the underlying on the spot market, and I’m just increasing my risk of getting liquidated. And that’s something that we don’t want to do.”

To end off this topic, Hayes said that BitMEX will never have as many coins as the world’s most popular crypto exchange, Binance.

Which cryptos have the potential to get listed on BitMEX? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.