derivatives

Cryptocurrency exchange Gemini released its Q1 financial report, with revenue reaching $50.3 million, a 42% increase from $35.3 million in the same period last year, which led to a 30% rise in its stock price during after-hours trading. The company stated that the growth mainly came from service business, OTC trading, and cryptocurrency-related credit card businesses such as the Gemini Credit Card. Among these, the credit card segment's revenue grew by approximately 300% year-over-year, nearing half of the total revenue.Gemini also disclosed data on its prediction market business for the first time. Since its launch in December last year, this business has attracted over 20,000 users trading contracts, with a total of over 100 million contracts traded, contributing approximately $400,000 in revenue. The company noted that trading volume in April further increased by 78% compared to the previous month. Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss stated that the company is gradually transforming from a cryptocurrency trading platform into a broader "market company." Previously, Gemini obtained a CFTC derivatives clearing organization license to support its expansion into derivatives and prediction market businesses.

Digital asset infrastructure company BitGo Holdings (NYSE: BTGO) recently released its first quarterly report since going public. In the first quarter of 2026, the company reported total revenue of $3.77 billion, a year-on-year increase of 112.6%, mainly driven by the expansion of its digital asset business and growth in stablecoin-as-a-service revenue.However, GAAP net loss widened from $25.7 million in the same period last year to $60.7 million, due to a non-cash market value adjustment of approximately $53.7 million on Bitcoin holdings and increased equity incentive expenses related to the IPO. Adjusted EBITDA recorded a loss of $1.7 million, compared to a profit of $3.9 million in the same period last year.During the quarter, BitGo launched its derivatives business in January, generating approximately $3 billion in nominal trading volume. Since derivatives revenue is recognized on a net basis while spot trading is recognized on a gross basis, revenue decreased by 38.7% quarter-on-quarter. The number of customers increased by 42% year-on-year to 5,569. As of the end of the quarter, the company held 2,449 Bitcoins and $186.6 million in cash.

According to the Korea Economic Daily, Jeong Eun-bo, the chairman of the Korea Exchange, announced at the 30th anniversary ceremony of the Busan derivatives market that they plan to launch digital asset derivatives to make Busan a global hub for the derivatives market.He stated that the exchange will actively promote the introduction of related products and attract international conferences to solidify Busan's position as South Korea's leading derivatives financial center.

According to The Block, Kraken's parent company Payward has announced the completion of its acquisition of Bitnomial, marking its official compliance qualifications to provide cryptocurrency derivatives services in the United States.After the transaction is completed, Payward will hold a complete licensing system issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), including futures commission merchant (FCM), designated contract market (DCM), and derivatives clearing organization (DCO), allowing it to offer spot margin, perpetual contracts, and options trading services to eligible U.S. customers. Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi stated that the company will prioritize launching spot margin products on the Kraken platform, followed by a gradual rollout of perpetual contracts and options products.Bitnomial, headquartered in Chicago, is one of the few platforms in the U.S. with a complete cryptocurrency derivatives licensing system. After the acquisition, it will retain its original licenses and business structure and serve as the core vehicle for Payward's U.S. derivatives strategy.Additionally, Payward stated that this transaction will provide new access channels to the U.S. cryptocurrency derivatives market for partners such as banks, brokerages, and payment institutions. Previously, the company also received a $200 million investment from Deutsche Börse Group and has submitted a confidential listing application to the SEC.

According to The Block, Gemini's Olympus division has officially obtained a Derivatives Clearing Organization (DCO) license issued by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), allowing it to act as an internal clearinghouse for settlement, risk management, and collateral management without relying on third-party clearing, which is expected to reduce operational costs.Combined with the previously obtained Designated Contract Market (DCM) license, Gemini is now capable of conducting full-stack compliant operations in the fields of futures, options, perpetual contracts, and prediction markets. Currently, Gemini is further applying for a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM) license to complete its full suite of CFTC qualifications and compete directly with Kraken and Coinbase.

The crypto derivatives trading platform Liquid has completed a $18 million Series A financing round, led by Neo and Left Lane Capital, with participation from Haun Ventures, K5 Global, SV Angel, AntiFund, and Sunflower Capital.The company previously completed a $7.6 million seed round led by Paradigm. Liquid was founded by former Two Sigma quantitative researcher and Harvard graduate Franklyn Wang, initially as a perpetual contract aggregation platform, and has now expanded to multi-asset trading including stocks, forex, commodities, and prediction markets. The platform supports leverage of up to 200 times and integrates various asset trading, including positions from Polymarket.

According to market news, the Nasdaq-listed company Nakamoto announced its actively managed Bitcoin derivatives program, which will operate starting in the first quarter of 2026. The program aims to generate recurring volatility returns from a portion of the company's Bitcoin holdings and to hedge against some downside risk in Bitcoin prices.The program is managed by Bitwise Asset Management through a separately managed account, with the relevant Bitcoin held by Kraken's qualified custody solution as collateral. The strategy includes covered call options and call spreads on the income side, as well as protective put options and put spreads on the hedging side. Nakamoto stated that the premiums earned from the program could be used to cover hedging costs, increase Bitcoin holdings, or for general corporate purposes. The results for the first quarter of 2026 will be included in the quarterly 10-Q report for that period.

According to the official announcement from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of Thailand, the Thai SEC is publicly soliciting opinions on adjusting the licensing rules for futures contracts. The core content allows existing digital asset business operators to directly apply for a futures contract business license without the need to establish a new company, while also formally including digital assets in the category of reference targets for futures contracts.

International oil prices continue to show a fluctuating upward trend, and market trading sentiment remains active. According to data from the Gate platform, WTI crude oil (XTIUSDT) reached a 24-hour high of $92.31, currently reported at $89.47, with an increase of 3.08%; Brent crude oil (XBRUSDT) reached a 24-hour high of $95.58, currently reported at $92.87, with an increase of 3.05%. Driven by the continuous price fluctuations, the trading heat of oil-related derivatives has further intensified.According to CoinGlass data, the 24-hour contract trading volume for WTI crude oil (XTIUSD) on the Gate platform reached $18.8854 million, while the 24-hour contract trading volume for Brent crude oil (XBR) was $13.6128 million, both ranking first globally. Continuous capital inflow has further strengthened Gate's liquidity and leading advantage in the commodity contract sector.Gate contracts pioneered the commodity contract segment, covering XBRUSDT (Brent crude oil), XTIUSDT (WTI crude oil), and NG (natural gas) perpetual contract trading, providing 24/7 trading, USDT settlement, and up to 100 times leverage, assisting users in cross-market asset allocation and strategic layout during volatile market conditions.

According to CoinDesk, the prediction market platform Kalshi is preparing to launch cryptocurrency trading in the United States, expanding beyond its core prediction market business. According to insiders, the platform plans to initially introduce perpetual contracts linked to cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin.This move will put Kalshi in more direct competition with cryptocurrency platforms like Coinbase. Coinbase currently does not offer true perpetual contracts in the U.S., but has launched "perpetual-like" futures contracts with long durations and has expressed intentions to introduce more advanced derivatives products within the U.S.Kalshi holds several licenses from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and has recently been approved to offer margin trading, positioning it to enter the derivatives market. Insiders say the company expects to start with cryptocurrency-linked perpetual contracts and may expand this model to other asset classes in the future.Kalshi's competitor Polymarket also announced on X plans to launch perpetual futures on its platform, but did not disclose further details. A video in the tweet shows that users will be allowed to trade leveraged long and short positions on assets like gold, NVIDIA, BTC, AAPL, and indicates that registration will provide early access.

Cryptocurrency exchange Kraken's parent company Payward announced that it will acquire 100% of the digital asset derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million (cash + stock). The transaction is expected to be completed in the first half of 2026, pending regulatory approval.Bitnomial is the first crypto-native platform to obtain all three U.S. derivatives licenses (designated contract market, derivatives clearing organization, and futures commission merchant). This acquisition will help Payward quickly gain a complete compliant derivatives infrastructure, significantly accelerating its expansion in the U.S. market. After the transaction is completed, Bitnomial's clearing and trading capabilities will be integrated with platforms such as Kraken and NinjaTrader, offering products like spot margin, perpetual contracts, and options to U.S. customers, and will be regulated by the CFTC.This acquisition will also expand Payward Services, allowing banks, fintech companies, and brokerages to access the U.S. compliant derivatives market through a single API. Industry insiders believe that with the market warming up and valuations recovering, merger and acquisition activities in the crypto industry are on the rise, as leading institutions are accelerating their transformation into comprehensive trading platforms for institutional clients by acquiring key capabilities such as compliance, custody, and derivatives.

Totalis announced the completion of a $500,000 seed round financing on platform X, with participation from Y Combinator.Totalis is the first company to receive investment from Y Combinator entirely in the form of USDC, with the funds settled through the Solana network and hosted by Ramp. Totalis positions itself as the core derivatives layer of the prediction market, allowing users to build multi-colored combinations across categories, markets, and venues, covering geopolitical, cryptocurrency, and sports assets, aimed at enhancing capital efficiency in trading and market-making.According to Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan, YC will make investment payments in stablecoins in the future, and this new financial track of revolution will not be conducted through ACH or wire transfers.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the U.S. Department of Justice submitted documents to a federal court on Tuesday, requesting to block Arizona from applying its gambling laws to the prediction market operator Kalshi.Federal regulators argue that contracts linked to sports events, elections, and other real-world events fall under a financial derivative known as "swaps," which should be subject to federal regulation under the Commodity Exchange Act, rather than governed by state gambling laws. Arizona had previously filed criminal charges against Kalshi under state gambling laws, with a hearing scheduled for April 13.The federal appeals court in New Jersey had previously ruled in favor of Kalshi, determining that its sports contracts are presumed legal under federal law in the absence of CFTC intervention, but courts in other jurisdictions have allowed state-level enforcement actions to proceed. If the court ultimately accepts the CFTC's position, prediction markets could operate nationwide under a unified federal framework.

According to BBX data, based on official market announcements and corporate regulatory documents, the latest developments in the compliance infrastructure of global brokerage giants and the financial strategies of mining companies are as follows:Charles Schwab clarifies the spot trading timetable: The Charles Schwab Corporation (NYSE: $SCHW) President and CEO Rick Wurster officially confirmed in a letter to shareholders this Monday that Charles Schwab will launch spot trading services for Bitcoin and Ethereum in the first half of 2026. The plan will undergo a limited rollout in the second quarter (Q2), followed by a full expansion to its large customer base.CME derivatives compliance expansion: CME Group Inc. (NASDAQ: $CME) announced that, given the record average daily nominal trading volume of $8 billion for its crypto derivatives in March this year, the company has decided to further enhance its crypto strategy by officially launching futures contracts for Avalanche (AVAX) and Sui (SUI) on May 4, including standard and micro versions.Core Scientific plans to fully liquidate Bitcoin reserves: Core Scientific, Inc. (NASDAQ: $CORZ) in its latest 10-K annual and quarterly regulatory filings provided Wall Street with extremely clear guidance: during 2026, the company expects to "substantially monetize all" of its Bitcoin reserves to enhance liquidity and fund planned capital expenditures. This means the company will completely transform into a spot seller, liquidating its digital treasury to purchase the hardware needed for AI transformation.

According to analyst Darkfost's data, after the news of a two-week ceasefire between the United States and Iran, Bitcoin saw an active buying volume of $2.7 billion (taker orders) in the Binance derivatives market within two hours.Analysts pointed out that the easing of geopolitical events pushed the price of Bitcoin up to around $71,700, indicating that investors are optimistic about risk assets in the short term, but are still influenced by subsequent geopolitical developments.

The research report on cryptocurrency market share for the first quarter of 2026 published by CoinGlass shows that the total trading volume in the spot market for the first quarter was approximately $1.94 trillion, while the trading volume for derivatives was about $18.63 trillion, totaling around $20.57 trillion, with a ratio of derivatives to spot trading volume of about 9.6 times.In terms of core indicators, Binance's derivatives trading volume reached approximately $4.9 trillion, accounting for about 34.9% of the top ten exchanges; the average daily open interest was approximately $23.9 billion, accounting for about 29.9%; and user asset reserves were approximately $152.9 billion, accounting for about 73.5% of major centralized exchanges.In terms of derivatives trading volume, Binance, OKX, Bybit, Gate, and Bitget ranked in the top five. In the dimension of open interest, the second tier ranking changed to Bybit, Gate, OKX, and Bitget. In terms of user asset reserves, only OKX had reserves exceeding $10 billion after Binance, while Gate, Bitget, and Bybit had reserves ranging from $5 billion to $7 billion.