BitMEX to Launch BMEX Token Trading on Friday

Crypto exchange Bitmex has announced it will launch the trade of its BMEX token on 11 November. 

As the company aims to regain market share in the derivatives space, Bitmex stated that the token would be used to reward users of its platform. The rewards will be allocated via trading fee discounts, withdrawal fee waivers, improved staking rewards, and access to new products and services on the Bitmex platform.

The token's launch was initially announced in December of last year, and users started being airdropped with the BMEX tokens in February. According to the exchange, millions of tokens have been airdropped to over 80,000 traders since February. 

Just like other exchange tokens, such as BNB of the Binance exchange and FTT of the FTX exchange, the BMEX token is the digital currency issued by the Bitmex exchange. 

Though the BMEX tokens were expected to have launched earlier in June, the exchange chose to delay the launch citing unsatisfactory market conditions. However, Bitmex's chief marketing officer Benjamin Usinger, later revealed that now is the right time to launch the token, and the exchange would like to contribute to growth in liquidity and revitalize the crypto markets. 

Bitmex will begin trading the BMEX token on Friday by first listing the BMEX/USDT pair on its recently launched spot exchange and then launching two new perpetual swaps — BMEXUSDT and BMEXUSD — on its derivatives platform.

While the exchange is preparing for the launch of its token, the company doesn't still seem to be comfortable with the state of the market. Earlier this month, Bitmex decided to reduce its number of employees as part of a strategy to move away from the company's "beyond derivatives" model.

"We are pivoting from our Beyond Derivatives strategy and will return much of our focus aiming at providing the crypto derivatives trading experience people will turn to," stated Bitmex. The company added, "We are going to refocus on liquidity, latencies, and a vibrant derivatives community, including BMEX Token trading."