The Nasdaq-listed crypto-asset financial services firm Eqonex has reportedly introduced a new kind of Bitcoin (BTC) investment vehicle – a BTC dated futures contract with a physical settlement.

Specifically, Eqonex reportedly disclosed details related to the update on February 9th, offering explanations that its BTC dated futures are denominated in the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin, and rise in conjunction with the BTC price increase against USDC.

Bearing opposing features compared to perpetual futures which come with zero maturity limit, the expiration of dated futures is reportedly at a pre-set date and time frame, such as monthly or quarterly, per Eqonex. 

“Any position in a perpetual future stays open until the trader decides to close the trade by executing an offsetting trade, or until the trade gets liquidated by Eqonex” The company additionally remarked. 

Per the announcement, the expiration date of the Eqonex BTC dated futures contract will reportedly be 08:00 am UTC on the final Friday of the expiry month, with the occurrence of the physical settlement happening in an automated manner. 

Users will reportedly have the freedom to carry out trading of the new BTC futures contract with leverage.

Eqonex additionally has plans down its pipeline to roll outdated futures for different digital coins, nominally Ether (ETH), “in the coming months.”

Eqonex’s interim Head Andrew Eldon reportedly also revealed a “gap in the exchange marketplace to better serve traders who are looking for safe access to products and strategies from traditional finance to exploit and hedge against the volatility of crypto market trading” is still visible. 

Per Eldon, the firm is reportedly putting in efforts to simplify the entry requirements via introducing a crypto exchange with proper regulations, and by including more and more institutional-grade products to our customers’ toolkits.