Cryptofacilities Bitcoin and Ripple Futures Trading Platform

Cryptofacilities is an FCA-regulated derivatives exchange operating out of the UK. The entire exchange runs on Ripple and Bitcoin, both in terms of allowable deposits and also trade collateralization. There are now six different instruments, a bitcoin-usd future, an ethereum-usd future, a bitcoin-usd turbo which offers 50X leverage, a ripple-usd future,  a ripple-bitcoin future, and last but not least a litecoin contract. There are a number of contract lengths within each of these instrument types.

Cryptofacilities has low fees and is one of only a handful of bitcoin futures trading platforms. Cryptofacilities has recently tied up with Akuna Capital to provide liquidity needed for contract settlement.

Getting Started

Opening an account with cryptofacilities is a microcosm of the larger tug of war between crypto and mainstream finance. All trading is collateralized in Bitcoin or Ripple, and so theoretically an instant registration and deposit should be doable a la  BitMEX; on the other side you have got cryptofacilities’ authorization to provide regulated services and products under the auspices of the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority.

The FCA requires minimum standards amongst authorized vendors meant to protect consumers, and many will find comfort in these protections. Others will be entirely turned off by the KYC requirements – to this latter group we recommend bitMEX. Regardless of your inclination, cryptofacilities, thanks to its regulatory status and security precautions, has secured insurance for the USD value of all bitcoin held in its wallets.

Cryptocurrency Futures at Cryptofacilities

Cryptofacilities limits futures contracts to four different contract types, listed below. Of particular note is the fee table, which is lowest in the market. Also notable is the lack of any funding fee or swap rate. So yes, you need to go through a KYC, but at the other end of the tunnel is the most competitively priced crypto-futures platform in the market.

The fees are fixed in either bitcoin, ethereum, or Ripple depending on your contract. Terminated, liquidated or final settlements are treated as taker trades.

How to Trade Bitcoin Futures Derivatives with Cryptofacilities

The four Futures offered run across the upper-middle of the screen, and a click opens up a listing of the instruments, ordered by nearest settlement date, illustrated in days under the moniker DTM.

Note the premium percentage, which is simply the cost of the futures price over the spot price annualized to one year depending on the remaining days to settlement. In plain english, if the XBT:USD instrument is trading at a negative premium it means that the market, at least expressed by cryptofacilities, expects the spot price of bitcoin to fall.

After an instrument is selected, limit and market orders may be placed from the trade slip below.

Market orders will will not be filled more than 10% from the current mid price, and so traders may experience partial fills. Users can set stop loss instruction on execution or at a future time.

Stop loss orders have two components, the stop price and the limit price. The stop price triggers your order, while the limit price is the worst price at which your position may be liquidated. This is required as order book depth might have a large gap between prices at particular moments, and this prevents artificially depressed liquidation.

Cryptofacilities Margin Requirement

Users are set up with cash accounts in bitcoin or ripple, and internal transfers must be made to each particular instrument in order to trade. Each instrument operates in a ring-fenced fashion. Ffailure to maintain margin in one instrument will not impact another, nor the cash account, but the user is responsible for ensure margin requirements in each particular instrument account. See below the margin requirements.

The protection percentage shows the change in price, opposite to your position, which would result in the total loss of investment, ignoring the fact that the position would be liquidated before such an event.

Might be better off elsewhere if:

You need serious volumes.

Cryptofacilities has developed a good product but they have not yet attracted the critical mass necessary for a robust trading experience.  We find few reasons at the moment to recommend cryptofacilities over BitMex, which has established itself as the leading crypto-derivatives exchange by volume.

Bottom Line

CryptoFacilities is one of a handful of cryptocurrency derivatives platforms in the market, and the only one regulated in the UK. Whilst allowing for the insurance of funds, this does mean that users must go through an actual KYC process, a bit of an annoyance considering the platform accepts only crypto. However, we would imagine that many users will prefer FCA regulation together with the KYC against the absence of both.

After KYC is completed, users will have access to one of the top platforms in the market, with the lowest fees and the greatest variety of maturity dates. And for that sizable Ripple-holding, derivatives-trading, must have a UK licensed operation niche, you have just found Mecca.