With execution broker PI Digital, Orbit Markets, a supplier of institutional liquidity for cryptocurrency options, is launching the first hybrid derivative product with a focus on bitcoin and gold. The item is a gold-backed token called XAUT that Tether has released. The commodity will be settled in either USDT, XAUT, or bitcoin upon maturity, depending on what OrBit specifies. OrBit observed that hybrid products, such as those that include stocks and commodity assets, are frequently offered by traditional financial (TradFi) service organizations. Investors have the option of covering “various sophisticated views” on bitcoin and the XAU token, such as returns rising or falling for both assets or if returns for one asset rise but fall for the other. The “worst-of-put option” enables investors to receive a higher yield if both assets increase, but on the other hand, should either asset decline, investors may be “put” into the poorest performance. MEV Capital, a DeFi-focused asset management firm, used options contracts issued by OrBit markets in March to protect liquidity providers’ holdings and avoid losses in Uniswap (v3) liquidity pools.
On Monday, Bittrex reportedly failed to register as a broker-dealer, exchange and clearing agency with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in a Chapter 11 bankruptcy petition. According to the criminal complaint filed by the SEC, the exchange received at least $1.3 billion in illegitimate profits between 2017 and 2022 while failing to register as a broker-dealer, exchange, and clearing agency. Since its founding in 2013, Bittrex has grown to become the 82nd-largest exchange for digital assets, with a $5 million daily trading volume.
