Delta Exchange, the Singapore-based crypto-exchange, has announced the launch of Bitcoin (BTC)/Tether (USDT) futures contracts, allowing users to trade BTC futures with USDT collateral starting at 9:00 AM (EDT) on April 14.

The industry has seen a surge in demand for a stable digital currency amid fears of an economic recession, according to the company.

Pankaj Balani, CEO of Delta Exchange, said the exchange had seen an increase in demand for USDT settled BTC contracts in the last three months, stating that ‘Black Thursday’ was a major catalyst for increased demand:

“Post Black Thursday market has become more risk averse and we have seen a shift in traders’ preferences to hold USDT instead of BTC. This becomes increasingly important in times when the market is not confident of the price direction in the short to medium term. Looking at the demand and market conditions we felt that the timing is apt to offer these USDT settled contracts.”

The exchange had previously discontinued settled BTC futures trading due to lack of demand, but in the past 15 months, Balani said things have “changed a lot” adding:

“In spot markets, we saw that USDT became the dominant pair, starting middle of 2017. We are seeing the same pattern emerge in the derivatives segment as well.”

Volume Competition Between BTC/USDT and BTC/USD

With this announcement, Balani expects volumes of BTC / USDT to outperform volumes of BTC / USD, as more traders are coming over to traditional market cryptocurrency derivatives markets.

Looking ahead, Balani said the exchange is working to offer quarterly futures settled by USDT, thanks to the demand from institutional users that they have seen.

Cryptolydian reported earlier that, Delta Exchange has announced launching Tether Gold (XAUT) perpetual contracts.

The exchange would provide traders with a fixed leverage of 20x for the newly-listed contract.

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