Perpetual Futures Emerge as Backdoor Investment Vehicle for CXMT

Chinese memory chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies (CXMT) made history on its stock market debut, topping the mainland's market capitalization. The company's listing on the STAR Market, also known as 'China's Nasdaq', saw CXMT close at 49.0 yuan on its first day of trading, up 465.82% from its offering price of 8.66 yuan.

The rise of CXMT has attracted attention in the cryptocurrency market, with perpetual futures - a derivatives product that allows bets on stock price movements without holding actual shares - emerging as a popular investment vehicle. According to CoinGlass, CXMT perpetual futures trading volume reached approximately $19 million over 24 hours, one day ahead of the CXMT listing.

Rishi Gupta, head of trading at cryptocurrency firm Auros, noted that this product is creating a new asset class with real demand and use cases that did not exist in traditional finance. He added that it would not be surprising if most stocks listed on major exchanges are traded in the cryptocurrency market within the next five years.