FTX Lists Dollar Spot Index Perpetual Futures

The major crypto exchange FTX has listed a new perpetual futures contract for the US Dollar Index (DXY), ideal for traders who want to bet on the direction of the currently very strong US dollar.

The new listing by FTX was announced on the exchange’s website on Monday, and the product started trading at 6pm UTC the same day under the ticker FTXDXY. Besides a brief spike in price just after 7pm UTC, FTXDXY has generally trended lower since its listing yesterday.

DXY is an index that measures the US dollar’s strength against a basket of other major currencies, including the euro, Japanese yen, Canadian dollar, and British pound. This way of looking at the dollar is useful because it provides a more comprehensive picture of the USD, which is otherwise only measured in relation to another currency.

The US dollar is currently at its highest level since 2022, helped by tightening of monetary policy and rapid interest rate hikes in the US. And given that bitcoin (BTC) is still seen as a risk-on asset, many traders believe that a weakening of the US dollar would be needed for BTC to rise.

Commenting on the new listing, many Twitter users appeared to take it as a sign that DXY may have peaked for now, with one user jokingly saying “whatever FTX lists just goes bear mode.”

“Maybe [FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried] saved the whole crypto world. Not the hero we deserved but the one we needed,” the user added.