Decentralized finance (DeFi) technology has brought about significant progress in terms of augmenting the Ethereum blockchain network through side chain projects that help with transaction settlements while keeping costs down. This emerging field is not limited to side chains; DeFi developers have ambitious goals to set up complete exchange platforms through available application programming interfaces (APIs), but the prospect of trading derivatives is still far off.

One such project is Iconomi — a decentralized finance platform for dapps. Its goal is to create a marketplace that connects people who want to invest with decentralized applications (dapps) and provides a safe space for both. In addition, Iconomi has brought on board some of the best minds of DeFi to shape the future of this emerging technology.

The co-founders of Iconomi — Igor Barinov, the head of the project, and Oleg Lodygensky, a technical specialist in Ethereum smart contract development, are passionate about their mission. They see many of the projects they invest in being truly disruptive. Igor is a former CTO at Coinbase, and Oleg has years of experience with the leading smart contract development platform. Their expertise in blockchain technology have made them a powerful asset to the success of Iconomi.

Unfortunately, DeFi has not advanced to the point of being able to handle options, futures, and other derivatives through a decentralized exchange (DEX). The current DEX projects can handle token trading and currency conversions, but they fall short at providing access to derivative contracts, which happen to be more sophisticated.

Iconomi has been working with major players in this space to come up with a solution that suits their needs and addresses the concerns of their users. These include platforms like Compound and Uniswap — as well as other promising projects. There is still the matter of securing asset custodial services, which are crucial in the trading of derivatives. For this reason, there is only a true player in the Bitcoin futures space in the United States: The Chicago Mercantile Exchange, an established financial market that has been handling futures and other derivatives since 1898. Until adequate custodial services can be secured by DEX providers, the CME will continue to be the go-to platform for trading cryptocurrency derivatives.