OKX markets European futures linked to the Magnificent 7, SPY, QQQ and major commodity benchmarks to European retail clients.

In a Tuesday announcement shared with Cointelegraph, OKX said the novel X-Perps markets allow users to trade futures contracts tied to top U.S. tech stocks, alongside indexed contracts based on the S&P 500 and Nasdaq-100 via SPY and QQQ.

The products also provide exposure to gold, silver and oil with up to 10x leverage, using the same margin pool as clients’ cryptocurrency portfolios.

OKX defines its X-Perps offering as a regulated derivative product that combines leveraged trading with a funding rate engine designed to track underlying spot prices. It launched in April with contracts tied to cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), and XRP.

Cryptocurrency exchanges are increasingly combining equity and derivatives trading on single retail platforms in Europe, where the regulatory overlap between the Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II) and the EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework is changing the way exposure to time-honored and digital assets is presented to retail investors.

OKX Europe has launched X-Perps. source: OKX

Cryptocurrency exchanges race to introduce equity derivatives to the market

The addition of contracts linked to Magnificent 7, the moniker of seven of the largest U.S. technology companies, comes as exchanges increasingly package time-honored financial assets into cryptocurrency-based trading products.

In February, Kraken introduced regulated tokenized perpetual stock futures contracts for non-US clients, including instruments linked to the S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, Magnificent 7 and gold, built on the xStocks platform.

Coinbase followed suit in March, introducing stock futures to non-US users via Coinbase Advanced and Coinbase International Exchange with crypto-settled deposit.

Binance has also expanded into equity-related products, introducing commission-free trading of US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds for non-US users in early June.

Related: The French regulator AMF sets a June 30 deadline for issuing the MiCA license

OKX is betting that X-Perps will provide equity derivatives functionality for European retail trading in a single, regulated account, rather than forcing traders to juggle a MiFID II-regulated broker for equities and an offshore cryptocurrency exchange for futures.

Erald Ghoos, CEO of OKX Europe, told Cointelegraph that X-Perps volumes in Europe have increased by more than 447% since May 1 and are “primarily” driven by novel clients who previously traded US equity derivatives on offshore or unlicensed platforms.

Regulators are considering rules for crypto-linked derivatives

The expansion of equity-linked products on crypto platforms comes as European regulators review how existing securities and derivatives rules apply to cryptocurrency-linked investment products.

European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) warned in February, leveraged derivatives linked to cryptocurrencies may be subject to existing EU CFD rules, which impose limits on leverage, margin protections and risk warnings.

European regulators are also examining how investor protection rules apply to perpetual derivatives and tokenized equity products ahead of the full implementation of the EU’s MiCA framework on July 1, 2026.

Crypto asset service providers who fail to obtain authorization will be required to stop serving EU customers.

Warehouse: Top and Emerging Global Crypto Hubs Guide – Mid 2026