The world’s 3rd largest crypto exchange OKEx has announced it will be listing Tezos (XTZ) later this week.

In an announcement shared with Cointelegraph on Nov. 4, OKeX said that XTZ deposits will be available as of 09.000 UTC on Nov. 6, with XTZ spot trading against Bitcoin (BTC) and Tether (USDT) to launch at 9.00 UTC on Nov. 7.

XTZ withdrawals will be functional from 09.00 UTC on Nov. 8.

Driving participation

Tezos — founded by former Morgan Stanley analyst Arthur Breitman and Kathleen Breitman — is a multi-purpose blockchain platform that supports decentralized applications and smart contracts.

The open-source protocol uses a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm, with stakeholders able to govern upgrades to the core protocol and governance structures in a way that avoids having to hard fork the blockchain. These principles of sustainable flexibility and open participation are ostensibly intended to drive the widespread adoption of the technology.

In a statement, OKex Head of Operations Andy Cheung said:

“Tezos is a highly respected project with a robust community, and we’re happy to be able to add the value of the XTZ network to the OKEx ecosystem.”

Binance’s prior moves

OKex’s listing of Tezos follows its recent announcement of plans to launch Tether futures trading, offering a linear futures contract with leverage of up to 100x. USDT Futures Contracts will be launched on Nov. 14, with USDT Perpetual Swaps slated for Nov. 30.

This fall, OKEx was prompted to refute fresh allegations from the Blockchain Transparency Institute that wash trading is purportedly rife on its platform.

In late September, Binance listed Tezos trading, with pairs against Tether, Bitcoin and native exchange token Binance Coin (BNB). The exchange swiftly followed the listing with a rollout of a dedicated staking platform, enabling its users to stake their holdings (in custodial wallets) and earn rewards without having to set up their own nodes.

In October, Binance’s research arm argued the case for the transformative impact that staking will have on the crypto industry, proposing that Ethereum’s pending switch to the algorithm will accelerate the process.