The ETH-related futures markets would not be impacted before the Ethereum merger, the crypto spot and derivatives exchange FTX informed users on Tuesday, 9 August 2022. The platform with its headquarters in the Bahamas made it clear in a blog post that it won’t suspend or settle ether derivatives like futures and perpetual before the integration and that it plans to continue live trading throughout the event.
It is believed that the merge, an Ethereum upgrade that will change the blockchain from proof of work to proof of stake, will go live in the upcoming months. FTX stated,
“FTX does not have any plans to halt or settle ETH futures prior to the Merge, and we will do our best to support continuous trading.”
The exchange also said that once the merging is complete, its Ethereum futures and perpetual contracts, ETH-0930, ETH-1230, and ETH-PERP, would track the price of proof-of-stake ether.
According to CoinGecko, FTX is the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in terms of daily derivatives trading volume. The exchange has supported derivatives contracts worth $7.5 billion over the past 24 hours. Among other crypto assets, the exchange provides futures and perpetual contracts with ether as their underlying value.
According to data from local media, the aggregate open interest of ether futures across exchanges has increased from $5 billion in mid-June to more than $7.7 billion at this moment, which coincides with FTX’s statement today. A futures market’s open interest is the sum of all unsettled trading contracts. Increased open interest is a sign that more capital is flowing into the asset market. While perpetual contracts and futures provide traders access to ETH, they also give investors a method to protect themselves against potential price volatility.
Proof of work is an ‘Essential’ part of Ethereum: Justin Sun
The always contentious founder of Tron, Justin Sun, stated that he believes Ethereum’s proof-of-work model is an “important” part of the platform, just as the Ethereum community is getting ready to switch to a different proof-of-stake model after a lengthy struggle. There are many billions of dollars on the line.
The cryptocurrency entrepreneur continues to promote Ethereum’s Merge, the much-awaited event that, if all goes as planned, would see Ethereum reborn as a speedier and less expensive blockchain. But that may be the case because Sun has subsequently promised to support “EthereumPOW” if the hard effort pays off.
Solana, Avalanche, and the network he established, Tron, are just a few of the many proof-of-stake networks in the market, according to Sun. However, most PoW chains, including those like Monero and Bitcoin, are not helpful for developing apps or supporting complex economies like decentralized finance (DeFi).