This week, the Binance exchange has revealed plans to add margin trading to its trading pairs in an unusual way – through the code of its API.
Reporting from Adrian Zmudzinski at Cointelegraph today shows a Reddit user looked at recent changes to the API code, and posted the code to make others aware of the change.
As you might imagine, reading about these changes in code is different than getting the news from an official document.
Zmudzinski reports that the potential for margin trading is signaled by one of two variables added to the API named “IsMarginTradingAllowed.”
At press timem, Zmudzinski reported the API enabled another Boolean variable called “IsSpotTradingAllowed” on all pairs, and disabled “IsMarginTradingAllowed” on all 482 pairs.
It’s important to note that currently, cryptocurrency investors have various choices for margin trading: the BitMex exchange allows margin trading for a range of cryptocurrencies at various leverage points.
“BitMEX … has gained quite a lot of respect in the cryptosphere in a rather short period of time.” Wrote Sudhir Khatwani at CoinSutra March 5. “The team comprises of experienced developers, economists, and high-frequency algorithm traders, which makes it a reliable product. … The registration process on BitMEX is simple as you just need your email to get started, plus, you can also secure your funds using the 2-FA authentication feature that BitMEX provides.”
San Francisco-based Kraken, a large and controversial exchange for crypto and fiat currencies, also offers margin trading. Kraken itself has been the subject or regulatory ire on several points, but is still operationally one of the largest platforms for getting involved in this kind of trading.
News on margin trading is important, because as a riskier type of trading, it’s regulated by various parties such as NYSE and FINRA, and brokerages operate under specific leverage rules.
The unrolling of margin trading indicates putting out more feelers into a greater and broader cryptocurrency market. Stay tuned.
