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Fintech Firm OKX to Launch Brent, WTI-based Perpetual Future Contracts

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Blockchain technology and trading company OKX and the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) plan to launch a perpetual futures contract based on the ICE's Brent Crude and West Texas Intermediate crude oil benchmarks, OKX said on Friday.

The contracts will be available to trade on OKX's platform in locations where OKX is permitted to offer perpetual futures. OKX described the contracts as "a major step forward" in expanding access to global commodity markets using digital technology.

OKX said ICE's Brent and WTI futures will underpin the perpetual contracts on OKX's platform. Brent and WTI contracts on ICE expire after a certain period of time, but the perpetual contracts trading on OKX's blockchain platform will not have an expiry date.

This is OKX's first collaboration with ICE, which operates some of the world's largest exchanges and clearing houses for financial assets, after the two formed a strategic relationship in March.

Haider Rafique, Global Managing Partner at OKX said that the presence of Brent and WTI among perpetual futures assets responds to demand from the market for this kind of asset and he said it would give retail traders access to the world's main energy benchmarks.

OKX describes itself as a fintech company known for its global cryptocurrency trading platform.

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