OKX has launched Pre-Market Futures, which allows customers to trade futures contracts with up to 2x leverage for upcoming tokens before a Token Generation Event (TGE), token public sale or Initial Coin/Exchange Offering (ICO/IEO).
For OKX’s Pre-Market Futures, the crypto exchange is adopting several mechanisms found in its expiry futures product. The firm claims it is a more sophisticated method compared to other pre-market offerings which are typically based on peer-to-peer (P2P) trading models.
“Price discovery process for early-stage tokens”
Lennix Lai, Global Chief Commercial Officer at OKX said: “Our unique approach to assisting in the price discovery process for early-stage tokens is backed by our robust risk engine and extensive experience. By opening up new avenues to participate in crypto, we aim to make trading more accessible, efficient and appealing.”
Pre-Market Futures empowers customers to trade exposure to digital assets without holding the underlying asset. The first addition to Pre-Market Futures will be Telegram mini-app game Hamster Kombat’s HMSTR token.
OKX highlights other Pre-Market Futures benefits for customers, including:
- Early market entry: Engage in price discovery of new tokens and capitalize on early-stage market buzz and potential price movements;
- Enhanced liquidity: The product aims to ensure superior liquidity compared to existing P2P-based pre-market products;
- Leverage: Maximize market opportunities with 2x leverage; and
- Lower fees: Enjoy lower fees compared to other major P2P-based pre-market products on the market.
Pre-market futures are highly risky
OKX also warns that trading in pre-market futures is highly risky due to such factors as lower liquidity, higher price volatility, and there is increased liquidation risk.
Additionally, not all tokens underlying pre-market futures will ultimately be listed on OKX and users will not receive underlying tokens.
OKX retains sole discretion to adjust any listing, extend or terminate the futures contract and/or settlement date for the futures contract, or suspend trading in pre-market futures.
OKX achieved SOC 1 Type 2 certification after SIM swap hack
OKX has successfully achieved System and Organization Controls (SOC) 1 Type 2 compliance after an examination conducted following strict guidelines set by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA).
SOC 1 Type 2 certification confirms that OKX meets the highest global standards for protecting institutional clients’ data and assets. The audit comes a month after OKX announced compensation to users who were target of a SIM-swap attack.
The attackers exploited a vulnerability in the exchange’s SMS notification system. They sent fake messages that appeared to originate from Hong Kong, tricking the victims into creating new API keys with withdrawal and trading permissions.
A flaw in OKX’s two-factor authentication (2FA) security system was reportedly discovered after the incident. Users were able to switch from 2FA to less secure verification methods, such as SMS verification, during sensitive operations on the platform. This allowed the attackers to bypass more robust security measures.
In response, OKX launched an investigation and contacted the affected users, promising to take full responsibility if the platform is found to be at fault. Despite these assurances, the security concerns have led to large outflows from the platform.
Users reportedly withdrew $204 million on June 10 and $633 million over the past week, totaling $837 million. These mass withdrawals have made OKX the exchange with the largest outflows in the past seven days, while its main competitor, Binance, has seen a net inflow of $1.364 billion during the same period.
Wu Blockchain highlighted several issues in OKX’s security settings including that the exchange does not trigger a 24-hour withdrawal ban for sensitive operations such as disabling phone verification, GA verification, and changing the login password. Withdrawal bans only apply when logging in on a new device. Furthermore, withdrawals to whitelisted addresses are not subject to dynamic verification based on withdrawal amounts. Once an address is added to the whitelist, withdrawals up to the limit can proceed without further verification.
SIM-swapping is a big concern in the crypto world, especially for those with a lot of valuable assets. This is because people in these circles are more likely to have valuable holdings that hackers want to target.
Numerous online services, including email accounts, digital wallets, and cryptocurrency exchanges, offer users an added layer of security through SMS-based two-factor authentication. These services depend on the SIM card, which functions as a person’s unique identifier. However, relying solely on text-based two-factor authentication is a cybersecurity mistake.
