Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao announced a number of improvements and changes to the Binance platform, including a futures trading platform, hardware security key integration, a website redesign, a one-cancels-the-other (OCO) feature, and more. Zhao was speaking at the Asia Blockchain Summit in Taipei where he showcased the futures trading platform, which was the most talked-about feature by far.
Binance Futures
Zhao was cagey on the futures platform, stating only that Binance Futures will offer BTC futures trading initially, will carry a maximum 20x leverage, and will launch “very soon”, with the test version going live “in a few weeks”. A futures platform is a natural progression for Binance, an exchange that already carries a huge amount of volume in the market, but equally carries the risk that new entrants to the space will bankrupt themselves by engaging in the risky practice without educating themselves first.
.@cz_binance just announced that #Binance will offer futures contracts in his keynote at the @aba_summit! #ABS2019 #Taipei #Futures pic.twitter.com/RXlui8YY0V
— Binance (@binance) July 2, 2019
One-cancels-the-other (OCO)
Binance introduced a stop loss feature into the platform in March 2018, just in time for the collapse of the crypto market. But, traders have long called for an OCO function, where they can set a stop loss and a take profit limit at the same time, meaning that executing one function cancels the other, and Zhao has finally agreed to implement it. This will finally bring to an end the crippling anxiety of having to choose between the two before going to bed and scrabbling for your phone or laptop first thing in the morning.
Hardware Key 2FA Integration
As part of the website redesign, and in response to the hack in May that saw 7,000 BTC stolen, Binance has integrated the use of hardware 2FA keys with support for the FIDO2 open authentication protocol. This means that 2FA devices that support this standard, like YubiKey and Trezor, can be used as security keys for Binance accounts instead of software-based 2FA generators.
More Steps Toward Domination
Zhao also used the talk to illustrate the continued uptake of the BNB token, which surpassed 100 use cases this month, including its integration with TravelbyBit, and the addition of seven new coins to the ever-growing Binance Chain. The multiple announcements underline the visions and the ambition of Binance to be the Amazon of the crypto world, leveraging their huge user base to infiltrate other areas of the market, crushing purpose-made platforms in the process. In such a nascent market and with such power and influence, the sky seems to be the limit for Zhao and Binance.
