OKX Launches X-Perps: Regulated Crypto Derivatives Hit Europe

OKX, the world's second-largest crypto exchange, has launched X-Perps — MiFID II-regulated crypto derivatives with up to 10x leverage — now available to retail and institutional traders across the European Economic Area (EEA).

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The product, announced from the company's Malta office, marks a significant expansion of OKX's regulated European offering.

X-Perps are structured as five-year expiry crypto derivatives that use a funding rate mechanism to keep pricing aligned with the underlying spot market. The product launches with trading pairs for BTC, ETH, ADA, DOGE, PEPE, LTC, PUMP, SOL, XRP, and SUI, with OKX signaling plans to add more pairs over time.

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What X-Perps Offers Traders

Built on OKX's existing global derivatives infrastructure, X-Perps is designed to deliver capital-efficient trading within a regulated framework. The product includes several features aimed at both retail and professional users:

• Up to 10x leverage — enabling traders to take larger positions with less capital

• Unified account with multicurrency mode — spot and derivatives positions are netted across a single risk framework, reducing margin requirements on hedged exposures

• Real-time continuous margining — no settlement delays or batch processing

• Multi-asset collateral — EUR, USD, and major crypto assets accepted without conversion

• Professional trading tools — advanced order types, charting, mobile interface, and full API support

• Deep liquidity and low-latency matching — built on OKX's global infrastructure for fast execution across market conditions

A Regulated European Framework

The launch is operated through OKX Europe Markets Limited, which is authorized and regulated by the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA). The product is fully compliant with MiFID II, the EU's cornerstone financial markets directive, positioning it as one of the few regulated perpetual-style crypto derivatives offerings available in Europe.

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X-Perps is backed by OKX's existing risk infrastructure, including negative balance protection and continuous exposure monitoring. The company also points to its global Proof-of-Reserves framework, which it publishes monthly, as an additional layer of transparency.

European traders must pass an appropriateness assessment — demonstrating relevant knowledge and trading experience — before they can access X-Perps. OKX is also expanding its European education resources, including multilingual content, derivatives risk guides, and platform tools to help traders understand leverage, liquidation thresholds, and margin requirements.

OKX Europe CEO on the Strategy

Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, framed the launch as a core part of the exchange's broader European strategy.

"Europe is a global leader in regulated digital asset markets and a key priority for OKX. Derivatives sit at the core of crypto markets today. With X-Perps, we're extending our proven, high-performance derivatives offering into a regulated European framework, giving both institutions and retail traders access at scale." — Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe

Ghoos added that OKX aims to provide "the most complete and trusted derivatives trading environment in the market" for European traders, combining deep liquidity with institutional-grade risk management.

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Why It Matters

Regulated crypto derivatives have been a gap in the European market for some time. While perpetual futures dominate offshore trading volumes globally, European traders have had limited access to similar products within a fully regulated environment.

OKX's X-Perps launch directly addresses that gap, offering familiar crypto-native mechanics — including funding rate arbitrage opportunities — under MiFID II compliance.

The product also reflects a broader industry trend: major exchanges are increasingly investing in regulatory compliance as a competitive advantage, particularly in Europe where the Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) regulation has set a new standard for digital asset oversight.

OKX, which serves over 120 million users globally, maintains regional offices in the United States, Europe, UAE, and Singapore. The X-Perps launch is part of the company's wider European strategy focused on regulated growth, product depth, and user protection.