What Sets BitMEX Apart in the Digital Asset Race

by
Victoria d’Este

Revealed: July 16, 2025 at 11:24 am Up to date: July 16, 2025 at 11:25 am

by Ana

Edited and fact-checked:
July 16, 2025 at 11:24 am

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Sam Sandiford, Head of Product and Institutional Enterprise Improvement at BitMEX, brings over 17 years of expertise in conventional finance to crypto derivatives. On this interview, Sam discusses his journey to BitMEX, the platform’s dedication to safety, and what units it aside for skilled merchants. He additionally shares his ideas on BitMEX’s evolving product lineup, the significance of transparency, and the tendencies shaping the way forward for digital asset buying and selling.

Are you able to please share your journey to Web3?

I joined BitMEX six and a half years in the past after 17 years in conventional finance. I’d labored in derivatives for a very long time, and BitMEX reached out to me to assist work with their monetary engineering designs, notably round margining and perpetual swaps. 

It was a leap of religion on the time, and BitMEX has been a really fascinating place to be during the last six and a half years, as I’m certain these studying this publish will know. We’ve steadily elevated the product vary and are nonetheless a power to be reckoned with within the crypto markets.

BitMEX describes itself as a house for actual merchants. How does this manifest in your shopper expertise and community-building efforts?

Once we speak about actual merchants, we’re what I wish to name semi-professional merchants and above. We’re probably not a spot for brand-new merchants who haven’t traded earlier than or who’re new to crypto. We’re a market specializing in derivatives. How does that present itself in what we do with shoppers and the neighborhood? 

We’ve got an institutional workforce that covers our establishments straight with full white-glove service, and now we have VIP protection for our key retail merchants. That may be performed one-on-one with the retail gross sales workforce, in addition to with teams and communities in our focus language areas. We notably deal with Russian, Chinese language, and English, and now we have leads for every. In a few of these, we even have separate advertising or copywriting groups that tackle and attain out to these consumer teams.

What particular UI customizations and superior order sorts do your most energetic derivatives merchants depend on?

If we’re being clear, our most energetic merchants will commerce through our API. What API merchants actually need is pace and low latency, which now we have – constant latency, reliability, and the preliminary ease of organising. The BitMEX API was one of many first strong APIs in crypto buying and selling, so plenty of what now we have is similar to different venues already. It’s very simple for our customers to hook up with. 

Some elements will not be good, which we’ve been addressing as priorities. For instance, we labored on updating the readability and usefulness of our API documentation. We will now translate it – so from being a pure English-language API documentation, we may have Chinese language and Russian very shortly, the place we discover the vast majority of our API merchants.

The subsequent set of consumers are the whale merchants, buying and selling massive sizes – not on a high-frequency algo stage, however on a click on buying and selling foundation. They worth safety and pace of execution, so they need liquidity, which we’re engaged on bettering to draw much more of these customers. Additionally they search for safety – BitMEX has by no means misplaced a single satoshi of buyer funds. 

Whale merchants need standardized market orders and have a tendency to make use of common restrict and market orders. They don’t want that complexity and infrequently do plenty of their executions through cell gadgets fairly than sitting at a display.

The third set is the extra OG merchants. They’ve been buying and selling for 5, six years or extra on venues like BitMEX and search for customization. They will add totally different elements to their buying and selling web page, determine which set off to make use of for take income and cease loss, index, final value, or mark value. They will select between a restrict cease or a market cease. We’ve got all this performance within the background. 

We’re making an attempt to make the bottom interface simpler for brand spanking new customers by stripping that away in order that if you land on BitMEX, it’s not complicated and you can begin buying and selling right away. Then, by our retail gross sales workforce, KOLs, and neighborhood leaders, we make these different options discoverable to customers after they’ve are available, to allow them to advance their buying and selling expertise in the event that they wish to.

The BMEX token affords buying and selling price reductions and VIP perks. What function does the token play in consumer engagement and loyalty?

We launched the BMEX token as a pure utility token round three or 4 years in the past. It has largely served for price reductions and withdrawal reductions. So, it had some utility however not huge traction. Proper now, the BMEX token doesn’t play an infinite function locally or our engagement, however that’s one thing we’re engaged on. 

Our subsequent step is to increase the scope of our VIP program. You may already use BMEX to achieve entry to our VIP program, however in the mean time, it’s PTS and withdrawal price waivers or reductions. There will probably be an elevated suite of VIP merchandise within the pipeline, together with white-glove service and invites to particular occasions, probably coming in Q3 this 12 months.

You combine buying and selling bots natively. What safeguards and monitoring instruments guarantee consumer funds stay safe?

The very first thing to say about having buying and selling bots in-house is that it brings all of the native safety of BitMEX. We’ve by no means misplaced a single Satoshi. We examine our system each 5 seconds to verify no funds have gone lacking. The bottom stage—”Are my funds nonetheless in BitMEX?”—is taken care of simply as in case you’re an everyday dealer. The subsequent bit is transparency. If I begin a buying and selling bot, can I see what trades are occurring as quickly as I flip it on?

The best way our buying and selling bots work is that you’ve a separate account or run the bots on a chosen account, and you’ll see these positions in actual time. You may take over at any time, cease the bot, and shut out the positions your self if you wish to. So, there’s full transparency.

On the identical time, ought to we ever have any operational points, our buyer funds are backed by a 37,000 Bitcoin insurance coverage fund. We don’t count on that, however we monitor our buying and selling bots for any unhealthy habits and take a look at them earlier than they exit. 

Ought to there ever be any problem with the bots, BitMEX can cowl the losses that is perhaps incurred. We’re all the time monitoring the product suite, and now we have a workforce that vets all buying and selling bots earlier than they go stay, so we all know what they’re presupposed to do.

In your most frequent derivatives customers, what aggressive edge do you provide versus different platforms?

Security and safety are paramount to BitMEX. We’ve by no means misplaced any buyer funds. It has slowed us down at instances, but it surely’s a non-negotiable for us, not solely by way of custody, but additionally ensuring the system itself doesn’t lose funds on one facet of the commerce. Leverage has been a key a part of BitMEX’s progress. We provide as much as 250x leverage. Different platforms provide related leverage, however not in an setting as safe, one the place we will assure income for customers on the opposite facet.

We’ve obtained a backstop of a big insurance coverage fund that’s been constructed up and managed over time. We set the leverage on particular contracts (not all of them at 250x or 100x), so we will be comfy getting out of these positions ought to liquidations happen. Once you use excessive leverage, liquidations positively happen; it’s a part of the method. We encourage customers to make use of the leverage they’re comfy with. Some merchants will commerce huge quantities with excessive leverage and are proud of the positive aspects and losses, whereas newer merchants, we recommend, ought to average their leverage.

Transparency can also be essential. You may see every little thing that’s occurring in BitMEX. We’ve got proof of reserves and liabilities to point out our insurance coverage fund and the way we’ve obtained all our prospects’ deposits below custody. Most significantly, we don’t commerce towards our prospects. Different exchanges run in-house market makers or facilitate market makers buying and selling towards prospects. We don’t do this. We’re actually a peer-to-peer trade. That’s tremendous essential for our transparency and buying and selling expertise. We’ve been round for 10 years, so we’re battle-tested. 

We’ve had a couple of bumps alongside the way in which, however that simply means we all know find out how to take care of the obstacles after we’re confronted with them. Our tech is sturdy and strong, making us one of the crucial dependable venues on the road.

Apart from Russia and China, what new areas or markets are you focusing on for enlargement, given the worldwide demand for derivatives?

We commerce nearly globally already and serve international markets, excluding the US and a handful of others. We wish to develop traction in sure focus areas, and we consider focus areas extra round language than particular geographies. Once we take into consideration licensing, geographies come into play as properly. We’re engaged on our licensing posture, and now we have a few jurisdictions the place there is perhaps fascinating alternatives for us to get regulated successfully. 

We’re already extra energetic in Asian geographies than Western ones. As licensing progresses, we see ourselves with growing buyer numbers, in all probability throughout the Center East and West into Europe over the subsequent 6 to 12 months. We’ve additionally grown our CIS workforce considerably within the final 3 months, so we count on extra traction there as properly. We’re open to enterprise from CIS and Russian audio system.

As tokenization expands into real-world property, how is BitMEX getting ready to assist or commerce these new asset courses?

For us, RWAs in all probability begin with stablecoins. We provide a small choice of stablecoins as margin forex in the mean time and are regularly seeking to increase that. We added Ripple USD as a margin forex just lately and are different stablecoins –  doubtlessly yielding stablecoins and cash market-based funds as future collateral. We’re probably not a spot trade; we’re a derivatives trade, so our deal with RWAs is generally round utilizing them as collateral.

We’ve got teams of shoppers incomes 50% plus yearly on buying and selling who will not be so anxious in regards to the yield from their collateral as a result of they’re collateral environment friendly and commerce very continuously with small buying and selling sizes. For them, this doesn’t matter. There’s a group of consumers we wish to carry on who maintain positions for longer and bigger sizes – for them, margin effectivity is essential. So, we’ll search for essentially the most dependable collateral that may be transformed into our currencies simply. 

In any other case, somebody on the trade bears the slippage. If we wish to get Bitcoin or Tether again from a cash market fund token, we have to know that we will do it reliably, in measurement, and with out an excessive amount of slippage. These are the avenues we’re exploring on RWAs. Exterior of tokenization, we’re additionally exploring the usage of securities by a associate, notably T-bills, for use as collateral, after which the associate will present buying and selling funds of Tether or different stablecoins on BitMEX. 

We are going to keep in contact with different RWA initiatives and contemplate itemizing these both as spot or as perps, the place they’re massive and open sufficient to the universe of BitMEX merchants. We in all probability received’t take a look at a token with very particular necessities, however we are going to take a look at a globally accessible token.

What macroeconomic or geopolitical forces do you imagine will most importantly form the crypto derivatives market over the subsequent three to 5 years?

That is fascinating. As markets are transferring proper now, we’ve had a dominant place, notably within the centralized trade area. BitMEX is registered in Seychelles, however most of our employees are based mostly in Asia, and plenty of buying and selling has been from this area. Worth discovery, retail merchants, institutional merchants, and even buying and selling knowledge facilities are based mostly largely out of Asia, notably Tokyo. A lot in order that we’re transferring our knowledge heart to Tokyo from Dublin within the subsequent couple of months.

Within the final six months, the U.S. has come out of its shell and can spark progress. The U.S. has three and a half years left of Trump’s presidency to actually make its mark on home and international  crypto markets. There’s plenty of rigidity in the course of the globe, but it surely’s actually an Asia versus U.S. steadiness. 

For exchanges which are neither U.S.-centric nor Asia-centric, there’s a possibility to intermediate that movement. I believe we’ll see consolidation within the U.S. to 2 or three venues, consolidation in Asia to 3 or 4 large venues, after which localized onshore exchanges, as we see in locations like Korea with dominant exchanges like Upbit. Then a handful of gamers, and I see BitMEX on this area, will intermediate that movement. 

It’ll be very arduous for an onshore dealer within the U.S. to commerce towards a retail dealer in China, for instance, except it’s within the centralized area. That movement will probably be intermediated by licensed venues outdoors of the U.S. and Asia. The geopolitical power driving that’s in all probability the U.S. in the mean time.

By 2030, what do you imagine would be the defining characteristic of profitable crypto buying and selling platforms, and the way is BitMEX aligning with that imaginative and prescient?

I believe there are a couple of profitable variations of a crypto buying and selling platform. We transfer extra in the direction of the retail facet, mass adoption, and buying and selling on private gadgets – buying and selling on cell fairly than on desktop. That’s partly a generational factor. Lots of our merchants below 30 are rather more mobile-focused, whereas these 35 and above are desktop merchants, doubtlessly former finance professionals. We see that shifting rather a lot. 

First, it’s quick access and ease, and with that in all probability comes passive buying and selling. We talked about buying and selling bots earlier, and replica buying and selling positively comes as a continuation to that. Perhaps even entry to asset administration and personal merchandise would be the norm. 

The historic crypto merchants haven’t actually been as as a result of they’ve been 20%, 30%, 50% annualized yields fairly than 5, six, or seven. However with that comes a big threat urge for food, which the common crypto adopter received’t have in three or 4 years’ time. They’ll have a decrease threat urge for food and be proud of decrease yields. So, for starters, having robust cell assist could be a major defining characteristic. 

Within the institutional area, we’ll in all probability begin to look a bit bit like TradFi, a minimum of from a tech angle – co-location, regulation, stability, and presumably darkish swimming pools for folks to commerce. There’s a slight issue with the way in which the crypto derivatives market is true now to make that work. In the intervening time, each contract on a special trade, even when its underlying could be very related, is definitely a separate instrument. There’s no direct fungibility throughout these devices. 

Individuals, together with ourselves and merchants, prefer it that manner as a result of they perceive the variations, and that creates buying and selling alternatives. Standardization and central clearing, which is perhaps an concept that comes up, must change a bit. We would see extra standardized contracts, a minimum of on Bitcoin and ETH, so folks can actually be fungible. 

There will probably be resistance from a variety of gamers as a result of it mainly eats into their margins. There’s a chance that clearinghouses will probably be in place. It was tried seven or eight years in the past and didn’t work, however possibly the market will determine in three years’ time if that’s obligatory. That will surely be simpler to know from a regulatory viewpoint.

About The Creator

Victoria is a author on a wide range of know-how matters together with Web3.0, AI and cryptocurrencies. Her in depth expertise permits her to write down insightful articles for the broader viewers.

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