The native token of the IDEX decentralised exchange (IDEX) has seen significant gains this week, pumping over 150 percent following the announcement of IDEX version 4, which will feature decentralised perpetual swaps:
According to CoinGecko, on May 16 IDEX was trading at US$0.049 before reaching a high one day later of US$0.126. At the time of writing it was changing hands at US$0.111.
IDEX is planning to launch IDEX v4 within four to eight months, suggesting perpetual swaps could be available on the platform by the end of 2022.
Perpetual Swaps an Opportunity for IDEX to Grow
IDEX refers to itself as a hybrid DEX, or a hybrid-liquidity DEX, meaning it has elements of centralised exchanges (CEXs) – such as order books and order types usually associated with CEXs, like limit orders – all while maintaining the decentralised model that defines DEXs.
IDEX has seen an opportunity to grow its market share by bringing perpetual swaps to the world of DEXs. Derivatives trading represents about 57 percent of total monthly trading volume in crypto markets, with one of the most popular instruments being perpetual swaps. Offering trading options traditionally dominated by centralised exchanges makes perfect sense for IDEX, given its position as a hybrid exchange.
The large gains seen by IDEX in the past few days mirror the performance of several other small-cap alts since the start of the year, including STEEM, which increased 60 percent following its launch on Binance, and MINA, which pumped 75 percent following its Coinbase listing.