BitMEX's bitcoin perpetual swap now offers 250x leverage ahead of halving

Quick Take

  • BitMEX has increased the leverage on its bitcoin perpetual swap XBTUSD from 100x to 250x ahead of halving.
  • “We want to ensure traders can capitalize the most on the bull market,” said BitMEX CEO Stephan Lutz.

Crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX has increased the leverage on its bitcoin perpetual swap, XBTUSD, from 100x to 250x ahead of the halving event.

"The increased leverage came upon requests from traders to profit from the volatility as the next Bitcoin Halving happens," BitMEX said Friday.

The bitcoin halving event is expected to occur within the next 24 hours and will reduce the issuance rewards for bitcoin miners from the current 6.25 BTC per block to 3.125.

"2024 is a great year for BitMEX and crypto traders. I believe it's also one of the last chances for those coming late to crypto to still make a difference in their lives and lifestyle," BitMEX CEO Stephan Lutz said in a statement. "With increased leverage of up to 250x for XBTUSD we want to ensure traders can capitalize the most on the bull market."

It's worth noting that increased leverage can also raise the risk of the trade turning sour and resulting in liquidation.

The XBTUSD perpetual swap was first launched in May 2016 and has since become the most traded crypto derivatives product of all time, totaling over $3 trillion in trading volume on BitMEX alone, the exchange said.

Despite dropping rapidly overnight, the price of bitcoin has recovered and is currently trading at around $64,500, according to The Block's Bitcoin Price Page


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Yogita Khatri is a senior reporter at The Block and the author of The Funding newsletter. As our longest-serving editorial member, Yogita has been instrumental in breaking numerous stories, exclusives and scoops. With over 3,000 articles to her name, Yogita is The Block's most-published and most-read author of all time. Before joining The Block, Yogita wrote for CoinDesk and The Economic Times. You can reach her at [email protected] or follow her latest updates on X at @Yogita_Khatri5.

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