On July 29, 2024, OKX introduced a new pre-market futures product with Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token as the first token to be listed.
This move allows traders to access cryptocurrencies not yet available in the market. The pre-market futures are USDT-margined and are usually settled before the tokens are traded in the spot market.
OKX Unveils Pre-Market Futures for New Tokens
OKX’s new pre-market futures enable traders to interact with new tokens before they are listed in the spot market. This product, which facilitates trading in expiry futures, seeks to help discover the price of early-stage tokens.
There is value in predicting price changes and speculation before a token is available on the spot market.
The design of the new product is to create a place for price discovery and give the trader a different experience. Lennix Lai, the global Chief Commercial Officer of OKX, emphasized that a robust risk engine backs up this method.
The objective is to increase the ease and effectiveness of trading and offer traders more opportunities to participate.
The launch of pre-market futures with HMSTR tokens shows OKX’s approach to capitalizing on new trends in the cryptocurrency market.
The futures are settled based on the average index price of the last hour before delivery, and an expected delivery price is also given. These features are designed to bring more transparency and activity into trading early-stage tokens.
Hamster Kombat Faces Regulatory Scrutiny in Futures
Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token was selected to be included in OKX’s pre-market futures. This decision highlights the high interest in the HMSTR token due to the quick rise of the game and its increased popularity. The game is a Telegram mini-app that has only gained more than 142 million users in 77 days.
However, the game is not without its controversies, as it comes under the watch of global regulators. Local regulators in Russia have expressed concerns that the game may be a “pyramid scheme.” The game has been deemed a “soft war” against Iran, which has complicated the game’s entry into the market.
The regulatory issues indicate the dangers of trading pre-market futures of much anticipated tokens.
OKX has clarified that including HMSTR in pre-market futures does not guarantee its spot market listing. This caution emphasizes that trading before the market opens is a highly speculative activity and that traders should exercise caution.
Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR Token Spurs Market Activity
The availability of HMSTR on OKX’s pre-market futures is just one example of how exchanges are gradually introducing early trading of new tokens. This is a result of increasing interest in early trading of cryptocurrencies.
Bybit also opened trading for Hamster Kombat tokens a week before the actual launch of the pre-market trading, which shows that other platforms are also competing to list tokens early.
Market activity will influence the prices of futures contracts in the pre-market period, and thus, they may not be equal to the actual listing prices.
OKX has stated that although pre-market futures prices indicate the market sentiment, they cannot be used to predict future spot market prices. This split is helpful for traders hoping to find their way through the largely uncharted territory of pre-market trading.
Global interest in Play-to-Earn (P2E) and Web3 projects like Hamster Kombat is increasing. Hamster Kombat has entered the list of popular P2E games in countries like Nigeria, introducing the local audience to Web3.
This global attention shows the increasing application of blockchain in gaming and digital assets.
