Bitcoin (BTC) derivatives commutation BitMEX has fallen to 3rd identify in 24-hour trading book for Bitcoin futures.

Data from Skew analytics on March 23 reveals that the derivatives giant, founded by Arthur Hayes, is reporting $2.45 billion in 24-hour futures volume, as against Binance's $2.48 billion and OKex'south $3.08 over the same time frame.

24-hour trading volumes for Bitcoin futures contracts on major exchanges.

24-hour trading volumes for Bitcoin futures contracts on major exchanges. Source: skew.com

Mid-term trends

Earlier this month, aggregated open interest in BitMEX's futures contract took a steep plunge from $1.2 billion on March 12 to $745 one thousand thousand the following mean solar day, and down to $607 million on March 13.

Aggregated BTC futures open interest across major trading platforms, Feb. 23-March 22

Aggregated BTC futures open interest across major trading platforms, Feb. 23-March 22. Source: skew.com

While this sharp downturn was mirrored across Bitcoin futures trading platforms, as of March 22, open up interest on BitMEX remained down 55% from March 12 — at $535 million — and 64% downward on the month, since February. 23.

As compared with this, open up interest on Binance and OKex is down 27% and 43% since March 12 respectively, and 47% and 61% down since Feb. 23.

While all platforms take apparently taken hits amidst the coronavirus-driven global market downturn, BitMEX'due south relatively sharper losses come into sharper focus against the backdrop of recent data from its counterparts.

Binance's monthly report published on Feb. 26 had revealed a strong uptrend in trading volumes beyond the exchange'due south futures perpetual contracts for January 2022.

The report revealed an 85% increase in volume over the preceding month, with a daily average of $one.7 billion and a highest unmarried-solar day volume of $3.5 billion on Jan. 14.

A week of controversy

Across volume losses, BitMEX has this calendar week been mired in a controversy over a mass liquidation outcome on its platform, during which BTC/USD crashed lx%.

Amongst what some have diagnosed as a cascading margin call, the platform went offline for roughly 35 minutes — leaving the exchange to fend off accusations of foul play.

BitMEX continues to face questions as to why its considerable insurance fund — containing over 35,000 BTC — was not used to help during the incident.