OKX said Wednesday it is rolling out a Europe-specific crypto derivatives product called X-Perps, expanding its regulated offering across the European Economic Area (EEA) via its Malta-based MiFID business. The product is available to retail and institutional traders across all 30 EEA countries.
Built to comply with the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), X-Perps follows OKX’s March 2025 acquisition of a MiFID-licensed entity in Malta, which enabled the exchange to extend derivatives trading across the EEA.
Platform features multi-asset collateral and up to 10x leverage
X-Perps offers five-year expiry crypto derivatives with up to 10x leverage and supports multi-asset collateral, including euros, US dollars and crypto assets. At launch, the platform lists pairs for major coins such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH) and XRP, as well as memecoins including Dogecoin (DOGE) and Pepe (PEPE). OKX said it will roll out additional pairs and explore high-demand products for retail and institutional traders as it builds its regulated European derivatives platform.
A structurally different product designed for Europe
The launch comes as OKX has grown into a major derivatives venue. According to CoinGlass, OKX was the second-largest crypto derivatives exchange in Q1 2026, with cumulative quarterly trading volume of $2.19 trillion versus Binance’s $4.9 trillion.
X-Perps is specifically structured to meet MiFID requirements and differs from perpetuals offered under other regulatory regimes. OKX Europe CEO Erald Ghoos told Cointelegraph at Paris Blockchain Week that perpetual derivatives “cannot exist” under MiFID II because they would be classified as contracts for difference (CFDs). To comply, the exchange structured X-Perps as five-year expiry futures contracts.
Ghoos also noted in a post on X that as much as 95% of crypto derivatives trading volume still occurs offshore. “I do believe that a lot of users will transition from offshore back to a fully regulated onshore environment,” he said, adding that X-Perps aims to bridge that gap by offering regulated access with strong liquidity.
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