Singapore-based cryptocurrency exchange Huobi has launched the Huobi Derivative Market (Huobi DM), according to a press release shared with Cointelegraph Nov. 28.

Huobi presented its new platform at the Cryptofrontiers conference in New York City today, stressing that the Huobi DM allows customers engage in cryptocurrency contract trading on both rising and falling cryptocurrency prices. The platforum purportedly provides tools for hedging and controlling risk and uncertainty.

Contract trading allows users to purchase and sell digital currencies at predetermined prices at specified times in the future, giving investors and traders an opportunity to open both long and short positions.

Huobi notes that Huobi DM is currently in beta testing and is not available for customers in the U.S., Singapore, Israel, Malaysia, and Hong Kong, among others.

Earlier this month, Huobi Group created a Communist Party branch, Beijing Lianhuo Information Service (BLIS), as part of its obligations to the Chinese state.

Under Chinese law, any company with more than three Communist Party member employees must set up its own branch, while until recently, the practice was mostly confined to state enterprises. Huobi thus became evidently the first cryptocurrency industry business to embrace the tradition.

In October, Huobi announced the creation of what it calls a “stablecoin solution.” The project, known as HUSD, consists of Huobi’s own stablecoin asset which investors can use as a go-between to interact with four U.S. dollar-backed stablecoins currently listed on the exchange. HUSD will also be tradeable against other cryptocurrencies, beginning with controversial stablecoin Tether (USDT), followed by Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).