Crude oil futures now available on FTX

FTX, a young but well-known crypto derivatives exchange, recently added support for crude oil futures. The move comes at an interesting time, just as oil prices for may contracts sunk deeper than ever before in history.

The prices for oil went below zero last week, and as mentioned, this is the first time that something like this has ever happened. The derivatives exchange's oil futures contracts expire to the spot price of WTI crude oil. However, the exchange also adds $100 to every contract, just in case the spot price ever goes negative.

FTX following the demand

The exchange's CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, who is also FTX's founder, stated that the company saw a lot of demand for oil futures. With the demand surging, FTX simply decided to fulfill the community's wishes. He noted that “The demand was all over the place. It was the most requested product from most of our users.”

There are a few conditions for those who wish to trade oil futures, although nothing too strict. Interested users simply have to pass FTX's level 1 of KYC, and be a resident in one of 10 countries. The countries that can trade currently include the US, the EU, the UK, the UAE, Singapore, Hong Kong, Cambodia, China, Turkey, and Canada.

This still leaves the majority of countries around the world restricted from trading. However, Bankman-Fried stated that he expects that most of the interest will come from Asia.

Right now, the oil futures have a monthly expiry, although that could change moving forward,  Bankman-Fried himself admitted that the company could change it depending on the demand. But, the exchange has even more plans for the future, noting that it wants to launch tokens based on oil futures.

The company did not reveal a date, although Bankman-Fried said that it will happen "soon."

FTX’s rapid growth

The new product is yet another one that the young derivatives exchange launched in only a few months of its existence. Only last week, it added two new tokens with ties to BTC price volatility. Two months ago, in February, it launched re-election futures for Trump and various other presidential candidates.

Meanwhile, the company only has 35 workers, although its team is growing by approximately 10% per month. Bankman-Fried expects that the team will exceed 70 people over 2021.