Arkham Research, one of the leading blockchain analytics firms, is launching an exchange for trading perpetual futures ("perps"), the company announced on Wednesday. The move marks Arkham’s first foray directly into crypto trading.
In a promotional video, Arkham notes that the exchange will provide live onchain auditing, traceable proof-of-reserves and support spot/perp trading pairs. It will also have a tie-in with the company's data dashboard, used across the crypto industry to track transactions and label wallets.
The exchange is expected to go live next Wednesday, though prospective users must register before onboarding. The product will not be available in certain jurisdictions, including the U.S.
Perps, sometimes called perpetual swaps, are a type of derivative contract without an expiration date. Largely pioneered by crypto trading platforms, perps are a type of futures contract often used by traders to leverage up or hedge their positions without holding a token physically.
Unlike traditional futures with predetermined strike dates, perps are rolled forward indefinitely using a “funding rate” — periodic fees paid between traders holding long or short positions, depending on market conditions — that maintains the balance between contract prices and the underlying asset.
Arkham is one of the most closely watched crypto startups. It has raised at least $12 million from investors, including billionaire investor Peter Thiel and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman.
Last year, the firm launched a controversial marketplace called Intel Exchange for users to trade onchain data and information useful for identifying the entities behind a crypto wallet. The rollout stirred controversy, with many privacy advocates calling its token-powered system a “dox-to-earn” model.
"The Intel Exchange is creating a liquid market for it so that on-chain researchers can more easily monetize their work and exchange information," CEO Miguel Morel said at the time in response to criticisms Intel Exchange’s “intel bounties” would incentivize doxxing and snitching.
A pseudonymous sleuth called ErgoBTC earned 9,519.26 ARKHM (worth about $4,950 at the time) for identifying Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon's crypto wallet.
Arkham’s native token, ARKM, is up 24% over the past day, according to The Block’s price page. That makes it one of the best-performing utility tokens amid a market rally following former President Donald Trump’s nomination on Election Day.
The Block has reached out to Arkham for comment.
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