Arkham Research Launches Perpetual Futures Trading Exchange

Arkham Research, a leading blockchain analytics firm, announced the launch of an exchange for trading perpetual futures ("perps") on Wednesday. This marks Arkham’s first direct entry into crypto trading.

In a promotional video, Arkham highlighted key features of the exchange, including:
– Live on-chain auditing
– Traceable proof-of-reserves
– Support for spot/perp trading pairs

The exchange will also integrate with Arkham's data dashboard, which is widely used in the crypto industry for tracking transactions and labeling wallets.

The exchange is scheduled to go live next Wednesday, but prospective users need to register beforehand. Note that the product will be inaccessible in certain jurisdictions, notably the U.S.

Understanding Perpetual Futures

Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivative contracts that do not expire. Primarily pioneered by crypto platforms, these contracts allow traders to leverage or hedge without physically holding tokens.

Unlike traditional futures that have set expiration dates, perps roll forward indefinitely by utilizing a “funding rate.” This involves periodic fees exchanged between traders with long or short positions, influenced by market conditions to maintain price balance between the contracts and the underlying asset.

Arkham's Background

Arkham is a notable player in the crypto startup scene, having raised over $12 million from investors like billionaire Peter Thiel and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.

Last year, Arkham launched the Intel Exchange, a marketplace for trading on-chain data and information aimed at identifying crypto wallet owners. The initiative faced backlash from privacy advocates, who criticized the model as promoting doxxing.

CEO Miguel Morel responded to the criticism by stating, "The Intel Exchange is creating a liquid market for it so that on-chain researchers can more easily monetize their work and exchange information."

One notable incident involved a pseudonymous investigator, ErgoBTC, who earned 9,519.26 ARKHM (approximately $4,950) for identifying the crypto wallet belonging to Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon.

Currently, Arkham’s native token, ARKM, has surged by 24% in the last day, marking it as one of the top-performing utility tokens amidst a market rally triggered by former President Donald Trump's nomination on Election Day.

The Block has reached out to Arkham for a statement.