Whaleclub marks a new era in global financial markets as a trading platform that allows anyone to trade the markets with bitcoin, without needing to link a bank account. Traders can go long or short on cryptocurrencies, forex, commodities, indices, and stocks – using just bitcoin.

“Our mission is to allow anyone, wherever they may be in the world, to use bitcoin to access and trade the global markets,” Petar Zivkovski, Whaleclub’s chief operating officer, toldCCN. “By blending sophisticated engineering with an elegant experience, we empower thousands of traders to access worldwide markets with bitcoin – completely outside the traditional financial system.”

Digital Currency Yields Efficiencies

Based in Hong Kong, Whaleclub began with the idea that a digital currency powered trading platform can operate at less cost than traditional systems. These cost savings can be passed on to customers in the form of low spreads and zero execution fees.

“Traditional trading firms are plagued with deposit and withdrawal delays, excessive fees, and poor customer support,” Zivkovski stated. “By using digital currency instead of fiat, we can provide customers with a superior experience: instant deposits, low spreads, worldwide market access from over 190 countries, customer privacy, and great customer support. This is a de facto example of how digital currency provides a significant advantage over fiat.”

Since live trading was launched in January of this year, 10,000 Whaleclub traders have traded over $100 million USD.

Funds Held In Cold Storage

Security-wise, customer funds are held in cold storage at all times. There is no software or automation linked to customer bitcoin wallets, making them technically impossible to breach and keeping them out of reach of software hackers. Whaleclub also offers demo trading where users can trade using demo funds provided by Whaleclub.

Whaleclub sources liquidity for client position hedging on the BTC/USD market from OKCoin, Bitstamp, and various private liquidity pools. “It’s important to note that Whaleclub does not directly route customer trades externally on these exchanges and as such is not in any way exposed to their risk of failure,” Zivkovski said. “A large majority of Whaleclub trades are matched internally.”

Leverage For Executing Trades

Whaleclub offers up to 100 times leverage and the trader can set the leverage they want to use before placing a trade. If the trader sets 10 BTC as their position size at 10 times leverage, the real balance (margin) used for that trade is 1 BTC.

Whaleclub also offers turbo trading, which is a new and fast way to trade. “It’s quite simple,” Zivkovski noted. “You go ‘long’ if you expect a price rise or ‘short’ if you expect a price decline. If your prediction is correct at the expiry time, which is usually within one to five minutes depending on the market, you make a profit equivalent to the payoff shown (which could go up as high as 85%). If not, you forfeit the amount you invested.”

Current trading volume on Whaleclub is about 60% regular trading and 40% turbo trading.

Bullish On Bitcoin Price

When it comes to bitcoin’s price, Zivkovski is bullish.

“Much of the volatility in the bitcoin markets was sapped away with the recent and large Bitfinex hack, so the short-term view on price is relative stability as it builds support to launch another bullish cycle in the year or two ahead,” he said.

“Long-term fundamentals for bitcoin are extremely positive, and despite the quagmire of the block size debate, the community has held strong,” he added. “Another bullish mid-term catalyst for price is the state of uncertainty of world economic affairs, which could trigger capital flights in several countries – this would pave the way for unprecedented bitcoin demand.”

Whaleclub trading is not currently available in New York State, which has strict regulations for digital currency companies. “As the digital currency ecosystem evolves, so does the regulatory landscape,” Zivkovski said. “Regulators contact us to provide or update regulation guidance and clarity regarding their country or region.”

Also read: US Commodities Futures Trading Commission enthusiastic about bitcoin

More Markets To Come

Whaleclub continues to add new markets for trading.

“We recently expanded from four markets to over 30 markets,” Zivkovski said. “Currently, our markets include cryptocurrencies, forex pairs, stocks, indices, and commodities. We’re adding new markets every month and we listen to our customers to prioritize which markets to add over time.”

Whaleclub traders come from 190 different countries. European, South American, and East Asian countries are currently the most represented countries on Whaleclub, Zivkovski said.

First appeared at CCN