On Friday, August 23, Digitex announced the launch date of its upcoming Testnet. Beginning on November 30, the public will be able to test out the new futures trading platform starting with one market, a DGTX-funded perpetual swap BTCUSD contract.
Zero-Fee Futures Trading
The new platform, co-developed by SmartDec, has a few features that are different from previously-launched cryptocurrency futures exchanges. Fee structure is a key area where Digitex is trying to be different from the competition.
Similar platforms generate revenue by charging users for each side of a trade. On the Digitex trading platform, there will be zero fees for both market makers and market takers.
It has become common for cryptocurrency exchanges to have their own tokens to simplify on-platform trading. However, major futures exchanges typically require traders to pay with one part of the trading pair. For instance, BTCUSD futures contracts are paid with BTC deposits.
Digitex is different in that it will require users to trade exclusively with Digitex Futures (DGTX) tokens. Prices on trades and wallet balances will also be shown in the equivalent value of DGTX.
One-Click-Trading Ladder Interface
The Digitex Futures exchange will allow traders to really get in the zone when trading futures contracts. By making use of a one-click trading ladder interface, in markets where speed is of the essence, traders won’t have to take the extra steps to use a keyboard, but can literally see the bids and offers going up and down on both sides of the ladder and place trades with a single mouse click.
This will revolutionize the way that people trade for good and mark a first for the cryptocurrency futures industry.
Working on Non-Custodial Accounts
Although not part of the initial Testnet, which will be launched as a completely centralized version, Digitex’s developers are working on the platform being non-custodial. This means that users will be able to hold their own private keys. In an environment in which cryptocurrency funds can be hacked easily, this will be a huge pull to cautious traders. They also won’t have to trust the exchange with their funds.
Bakkt, which plans to launch on September 23, 2019, emphasizes the fact that it is a custodian. According to the Bakkt homepage, its platform will have “state-of-the-art physical and cybersecurity, institutional-grade technology and governance.”
Regardless, Bakkt users will be reliant upon the platform for security and won’t have control of their own funds. The same of true of centralized exchanges such as Binance and BitMEX.
Ramping Up Scalability
Scalability presents a major challenge for most non-custodial exchanges and blockchains in 2019. While centralized crypto exchanges like Coinbase can handle a large number of users and high transaction volumes at one time, decentralized exchanges haven’t been able to break past technical limitations.
Petr Korolev, who is Head of DEX Research & Development, has been working closely with SmartDec developers on solving scalability problems. Some projects he has been working on include Plasma research, zk-SNARKS, decentralized trading engines, and non-custodial storage of value.
According to Korolev,
“Scalability is the number one limitation problem of blockchain. It is not as easy as it sounds to manage a high number of transactions and to do it fast. All this is a primary demand for any exchange that wants to be competitive and attractive, and Digitex is no different. Scaling solutions provide the answer to a possible high capacity of the exchange’s blockchain platform, processing transactions in the network.”
Wrapping It Up
The platform’s Testnet won’t demonstrate whether technologies that were merely research a few years ago can now be implemented on a large-scale platform just yet. There is still more time and research needed before non-custodial accounts are enabled.
However, SmartDec has announced that the Digitex Testnet will allow for up to 50,000 transactions per second (TPS), and 10,000 or more users will be able to make trades simultaneously. The public Testnet will likely be operational for a few months. No date has been set for the mainnet launch. But for the 1.5 million on the Digitex waitlist, this first step should come as welcome news.
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