Crypto derivatives platform ErisX said Tuesday it launched an application programming interface (API) for bitcoin, bitcoin cash, ether and litecoin block trading, allowing for bulk trades.
The API provides greater integration of the firm’s block trading facility, a service for spot and futures market crypto traders looking to strike private, high-volume deals. This applies to spot trades of at least 10 bitcoin, 100 bitcoin cash, 100 ether or 250 litecoin, and futures trades of at least 10 bitcoin contracts or 50 ether contracts, according to a Tuesday blog post.
Such orders might quickly rock those cryptos’ prices if the taker was to place them on the open market. This could trigger price volatility.
By negotiating a trade privately with other ErisX registered members, clearing and settling it through ErisX’s in-house service and then reporting it only at or soon after the fact, the parties avoid destabilizing their own trade.
“They eliminate counterparty settlement risk while limiting market impact,” Carlos Mosquera, Benatuil, CEO of Solidus OTC said in a press statement.
Parties report their trades at the trade date or within 15 minutes of execution, the blog post said.
ErisX said in a press statement that the REST API creates a “workflow that is familiar to capital markets professionals.”
“We are removing the friction and risks associated with OTC based workflows and expanding the universe of potential counterparties for our Members with a competitively priced service,” CEO Thomas Chippas said in the release.
The feature closely follows ErisX’s May 11 launch of ether futures contracts.