Digital Currency Group, Polychain back crypto futures exchange CoinFLEX

Cryptocurrency futures exchange CoinFLEX has secured investment from Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Polychain. The details of the investment have not been disclosed.

DCG and Polychain are the latest to join CoinFLEX’s investor consortium which includes Trading Technologies, Roger Ver, Mike Komaransky, Dragonfly Capital Partners, and a number of leading market making firms.

The announcement was made alongside the launch of FLEX Coin – a loyalty coin for early traders on the platform. CoinFLEX said that it has launched FLEX Coin “to encourage liquidity and reward members who trade on the platform.”

“With FLEX Coin we want to reward early traders of the platform and build loyalty using a shared exchange coin”, said, Mark Lamb, CEO of CoinFLEX. “We have a growing set of high profile backers, a clear roadmap for delivery and are moving closer to our goal of helping crypto futures trading achieve its full potential.”

According to the official release, a set amount of FLEX Coin will be paid out to traders every day based on the proportion of the volume they trade as a taker, relative to the total daily volume on the platform. The coins can be exchanged for a discount on the cost of using the platform.

Founded in 2018, CoinFLEX said it is launching “a global, scalable and secure crypto futures exchange.” It also plans to launch the world’s first stablecoin-to-stablecoin futures contract, which will provide investors with the ability to hedge exposures with zero index or settlement manipulation risk.

“As a physically-settled futures exchange, CoinFLEX will be well positioned to capture significant order flow from speculators, institutional traders and Proof of Work miners seeking to hedge against crypto price volatility and hash rate volatility,” Olaf Carson-Wee, CEO of Polychain, said.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), the parent company of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), also announced its plans to launch physically-settled daily futures contract for bitcoin, called the Bakkt Bitcoin (USD) Daily Futures Contract. The launch was previously planned for January 24, 2019, but has now been delayed and expected later this year.