BitMEX Launches Stock Perpetual Contracts, Enabling 7x24 Stock Trading

On January 7th, cryptocurrency derivatives exchange BitMEX announced the launch of "Equity Perps" (Equity Perpetual Contracts). This innovative derivative trading product allows traders to use cryptocurrency as margin to directly participate in investments in mainstream U.S. stocks and indices. This launch marks BitMEX's product portfolio expanding beyond the single crypto market, breaking the time restrictions of U.S. stock market hours and enabling users to trade traditional stock assets 24/7.

Equity Perpetual Contracts are cash-settled, non-expiring derivatives designed to track the price movements of individual U.S. stocks or indices. Similar to BitMEX's existing cryptocurrency perpetual contracts, this product uses a funding rate mechanism to ensure the contract price closely follows the underlying reference index. Traders can use Bitcoin or USDT as margin to conduct long or short trades with leverage up to 20x.

Stephan Lutz, CEO of BitMEX, stated: "Equity Perps allow traders to leverage their crypto assets to enter the U.S. stock market in a more flexible way. By eliminating the limitations of traditional trading hours and introducing cryptocurrency as collateral, we are bringing BitMEX's acclaimed reliability and high performance to a broader global market, further extending our professional expertise in the derivatives field."

**Initial Listings and Trading Mechanism** The first batch of listed contracts covers popular U.S. stocks and indices, including Amazon, Apple, Circle, Coinbase, Meta, Nvidia, Robinhood, Tesla, as well as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq indices. BitMEX plans to gradually expand the variety of contracts in the future. Trading is open 24/7. Regarding the pricing mechanism, during U.S. stock trading hours, the index price is primarily based on real-time stock prices; during U.S. market closures, it is supported by tokenized spot prices from multiple exchanges.

**Fees and Settlement Rules** All BitMEX Equity Perpetual Contracts offer a 2.5 basis points (bps) maker rebate, with a taker fee of 7.5 basis points. Funding rates are settled every 8 hours, consistent with BitMEX's existing perpetual contract mechanism, regardless of whether the U.S. stock market is open. For corporate actions such as stock splits, affected contracts will be settled early and relisted after the relevant action is completed.

To celebrate the new product launch, BitMEX is hosting a special event with a total prize pool of 70,000 USDT. Eligible users can participate in the prize distribution by trading Equity Perpetual Contracts and enjoy the maker rebate benefit across all contracts. For more product guides and educational resources, please visit the BitMEX official website and the official blog.

About BitMEX

BitMEX is a pioneer exchange in crypto derivatives trading, providing a platform that meets the needs of professional cryptocurrency traders through low latency, deep crypto-native liquidity, and unparalleled reliability.

Since its inception, BitMEX has never lost any cryptocurrency due to intrusion or hacking, allowing BitMEX users to trade with peace of mind while ensuring they have access to the products and tools needed to be profitable.

BitMEX was also one of the first exchanges to publish on-chain proof-of-reserves and proof-of-liabilities data, releasing this data twice weekly to demonstrate the secure storage and segregation of custodial funds.