Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: $ICE), owner of the New York Stock Exchange, is partnering with crypto exchange OKX to launch oil futures contracts that allow investors to bet on crude prices.
Going forward, investors will be able to bet on the futures price movements of both Brent crude oil, the international standard, and West Texas Intermediate (WTI), the U.S. benchmark.
The new contracts will be available on OKX in territories where the crypto company is licensed to offer perpetual futures contracts.
Perpetual futures contracts, known as “perps,” are a type of derivative contract that gives traders and investors the ability to bet on the prices of commodities such as oil.
But unlike traditional futures, perps never expire and traders don’t have to take possession of physical barrels of oil to place bets.
While perps began on cryptocurrency exchanges as a way to speculate on digital tokens, they have since grown into other assets driven by the popularity of prediction markets such as Kalshi
Most perpetual futures are offered on offshore exchanges and aren’t regulated in the way that traditional markets such as the New York Stock Exchange are overseen.
Analysts say the move to offer perps on crude oil is another sign of the growing convergence of cryptocurrencies and traditional financial firms.
Intercontinental Exchange is pushing into prediction markets, tokenized securities, and around the clock trading on the New York Stock Exchange as it tries to keep competitors at bay.
ICE stock has declined 13% over the last 12 months to trade at $151.49 U.S. per share.
