U.Today - Cryptocurrency trading platform BitMEX its offerings with the introduction of two new perpetual contract listings for Shiba Inu (SHIB), the second most popular meme token.
The new listings (SHIB/USD and SHIB/USDT) will allow BitMEX users to take long or short positions on with up to 33x leverage.
For the uninitiated, a perpetual contract is a special type of futures contract but without an expiry date, allowing traders to hold their positions indefinitely. The addition of these contracts gives traders one of the highest maximum position sizes in the crypto industry.
The SHIB/USD contract will be a quanto contract with a fixed Bitcoin multiplier. This feature enables traders to speculate on the SHIB/USD exchange rate without actually needing to own either SHIB or the greenback. Margin will be posted in Bitcoin (XBT), and traders can earn or lose in XBT as the SHIB/USD rate fluctuates.
The SHIB/USDT listing, on the other hand, is a linear perpetual swap margined in Tether (USDT). This contract type offers exposure to the price of SHIB without requiring people to hold the token. The leverage for this contract will be up to 20x.
The move by to list SHIB perpetual contracts could signal growing interest in meme tokens, which have often been viewed with skepticism. The high-leverage options may attract traders looking for potentially lucrative returns, but they also come with significant risk. Excessive leverage can amplify losses just as much as it can profits, a point that prospective traders should bear in mind.