Deribit has decided to meet growing institutional demand for Solana with the launch of options and futures.
Panama-based cryptocurrency derivatives platform Deribit announced in a recent tweet that it will add support to its Solana (SOL) trade. The first European options with SOL will be published on the stock market on May 9. The platform will offer daily, weekly and monthly options.
According to the announcement, Solana futures will start this Friday. The addition of SOL options is significant as it highlights the growing institutional interest in the cryptocurrency. It’s worth noting that institutional traders make up the majority (roughly 80%) of the company’s client base.
Prior to that, it only offered options in Bitcoin and Ethereum, the two largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization with the highest liquidity.
Deribit remains the dominant exchange for cryptocurrency options trading. According to data provided by CoinGlass, it accounts for 91% of interest in Bitcoin. Chicago-based CME Group is second with roughly 4%.
Last year, SOL emerged as Wall Street’s favorite Ethereum alternative. As previously reported, Bank of America predicted that Solana could become the leading payment protocol due to high transaction volume competing with legacy companies like Visa. Solana is also gaining traction in the NFT industry. Earlier this month, leading NFT marketplace OpenSea added support for the network.