Crypto Trading: An Asian Story?! (Mt.Gox, BitMEX, Bitfinex)

The genesis of crypto trading is centered on Northern Asia, and more precisely on what we can call “Greater China”. It is now clear that this was the most fertile ground for innovation in the crypto trading sector. Understanding this history also means getting a better grasp of the market’s current dynamics and anticipating its next developments.

Greater China — a name that says it all — is the combination of mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macau.

Note that this history is mainly drawn from an overview written by Arthur Hayes, co-founder of Bitmex.

Mt.Gox: The Birth of Crypto Trading in Japan

For better AND for worse, in the early 2010s, Mt. Gox was created. It was a Japanese exchange. This is the name that put crypto trading volumes on the world map and truly launched the Bitcoin trading ecosystem.

If you are not familiar with the infamous Mt. Gox incident, I invite you to catch up on it.

In 2013, Mt. Gox held a market share of more than 80% of global crypto trading volumes…

When Mt. Gox blew up in early 2014, most of the volume shifted to the three big players in mainland China: Huobi (based in Beijing), OkCoin (based in Beijing) and BTC China (based in Shanghai). And for market participants outside the Greater China region, you had Bitstamp (based in Slovenia) and Bitfinex (based in Hong Kong) handling most of the USD trading volumes. At that time, more institutional platforms such as OKX (which we recommend today for their reliability and regulatory standing) were also starting to emerge in the West.

Bitfinex: The Invention of Crypto Margin Trading

In the crypto trading sector, the next revolution was led by Bitfinex, which (at least initially) reportedly built its platform using the code of Bitcoinica, a New Zealand-based exchange launched by a Chinese founder who spent his formative years in Singapore.

Regardless of the origin of their codebase, Bitfinex innovated by successfully popularizing a peer-to-peer borrowing and lending market for fiat and crypto. For the first time, this allowed traders to borrow from other traders to trade on margin.

Bitfinex also allowed users to post different types of collateral to fund their trades with leverage.

For example, if you held Litecoin, you could go long Bitcoin on margin against USD. At the time, the amount of outstanding Bitfinex loans was a crucial variable for forecasting price movements. Following a $5 million hack of Bitstamp, the leading non-Chinese exchange at the time, in 2016, these innovations allowed Bitfinex to snatch the crown from Bitstamp as the largest non-Chinese exchange. Worth noting: trading with leverage demands rigorous risk management, at the risk of swift liquidation.

ICBIT: The First Crypto Futures Contracts

At the time, the crypto derivatives market was only a small slice of the pie. The first true exchange offering derivative products was ICBIT, founded by two Russians living in the Caribbean. ICBIT invented inverse Bitcoin/USD futures contracts. In 2013, when ICBIT reigned supreme over this niche, cash-and-carry futures were yielding 200% per year. To better understand these instruments, check out our guide on crypto futures.

Socialized Losses: The Chinese Innovation

In 2014, 796 (based in GuangZhou), Huobi, OkCoin, BTC China, and BitMEX (launched in Hong Kong – hurray!) all launched their own version of a futures market using ICBIT’s inverse futures contract structure.

Technically, 796 used a different derivative, but they took off.

The big innovation of these exchanges located around China was the socialized loss system, which protected the exchange from the risk of individual traders going bankrupt. This feature was essential given the volatile nature of the crypto market.

Bitfinex and Tether: The Stablecoin Revolution

Later on, Bitfinex played its part in the early growth of the stablecoin market through its affiliation with / ownership of Tether.

Crypto exchanges needed a way to fund themselves in USD without touching the banking system. Likewise, the Chinese needed a way to send dollars around the world without involving banks. Bitfinex was the leading exchange and had deep ties to Greater China. On top of that, its backing of USDT further cemented USDT’s position as the largest stablecoin.

From there, derivatives trading volume exploded while the leading exchanges were still located in China.

Why the “Chinese Dominance” of Crypto Trading?

First of all, most of the companies mining bitcoin and producing mining equipment were located in mainland China. These companies were the first whales, as they held large reserves of bitcoin to speculate with and to hedge.

Moreover, the majority of global spot trading volumes were concentrated in China: it was this concentration of liquidity that gave the region its decisive edge. Third, there was no institutional investor class to cater to, with retail traders reigning supreme. As a result, products were built to attract cryptocurrency users, not fund managers.

BitMEX: The Invention of the Perpetual Contract (Perp)

In May 2016, BitMEX invented the perpetual swap (aka “perps” or “the perp”).

BitMEX’s rise stems almost entirely from this financial invention. The perpetual contract has no expiry date: to stay pegged to the spot price, it relies on the funding rate, that mechanism of periodic payments between longs and shorts which is one of the great inventions described here.

By 2020, all the major derivatives exchanges had copied this product design and enjoyed great success. With trillions of dollars in cumulative trading volumes to date, it has become the most traded crypto instrument of all time — nothing less…

Deribit: The Rise of Crypto Options

Following this, Deribit, initially based in the Netherlands and now in Panama, blew the crypto options market wide open. Up to that point, it is virtually the only exchange not based in Asia to have contributed a major innovation to the crypto trading sector.

Conclusion: Is Crypto Innovation Stagnating Today?

Binance (today the largest exchange by trading volume for most products), and Bybit (launched in Beijing, now in Singapore/Dubai) are in fact the last 2 giants that, in recent times, took the best products and features of their predecessors, improved them and found success. FTX, launched in Hong Kong before relocating to the Bahamas, was one of them, but you know how that ended…

To recap, let’s go back through the list of major developments in order and note where each one was invented.

Inverse Futures Contracts: ICBIT, set up on a Russian yacht in the Caribbean. (LOL)

Socialized loss system: 796, Huobi, OKCoin, and BTC China, based respectively across GuangZhou, Beijing and Shanghai

Margin Trading: Bitfinex – Hong Kong – (Greater China).

Stablecoins (USDT): Bitfinex – Hong Kong (Greater China).

Perpetual Contracts: BitMEX – Hong Kong (Greater China).

Options – Deribit – Netherlands

No. 1 Exchange by volume – Binance

As you can see, while the management teams behind these projects are generally cosmopolitan, the importance of Asia — and more specifically China — in crypto innovation is unmistakable.

A solid historical knowledge of crypto exchanges allows us to anticipate potentially recurring events: the same mechanics of liquidity, leverage and risk mutualization play out again in every cycle.

2026 Update: Where Are These Exchanges Today?

This story remains a historical benchmark, but several of the players mentioned have changed names or status since it was first published. A quick update for the 2026 reader:

• Huobi became HTX (rebranded in September 2023).
• OkCoin gave rise to OKX, today one of the world’s largest derivatives exchanges.
• BTC China shut down, swept away by China’s regulatory crackdown (successive 2017-2021 bans on trading and mining).
• Tether (USDT) and Bitfinex (iFinex) announced in early 2025 that they were moving their headquarters to El Salvador, a country that has become a crypto hub.
• FTX went bankrupt in November 2022; its founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March 2024.
• BitMEX, Bitfinex, Bybit remain active and liquid; the perpetual swap invented by BitMEX is still the most traded crypto instrument in the world.

The map of players keeps shifting, but the underlying lesson does not change: most of the innovations that still structure crypto trading in 2026 were born in Asia, and more precisely around Greater China.

FAQ: The History of Crypto Exchanges

What was the first major crypto exchange?

Mt. Gox, a Japanese exchange launched in the early 2010s. It concentrated up to more than 80% of global volumes in 2013, before collapsing in early 2014 following the hack that left its mark on the history of the sector.

Who invented the perpetual contract (perp) in crypto?

BitMEX, in May 2016. The perpetual swap, which has no expiry and stays pegged to the spot price thanks to the funding rate, has become the most traded crypto instrument of all time.

Why did Asia dominate crypto exchange innovation?

Because the majority of Bitcoin mining, the first whales and spot liquidity were located in mainland China, in a market made up almost entirely of retail traders. The products — margin trading, inverse futures, socialized losses, perpetuals — were therefore designed for them.

Want more trading, mindset, tools and crypto tutorials? I invite you to stick around on THE Trading & Crypto blog!