OKX adds 10 spot margin pairs in Europe as NEAR, ENA rally

OKX has added 10 USDC spot margin pairs for European customers, offering up to 10x leverage as NEAR and ENA gained 7.2% and 5.6%, respectively, over the past 24 hours.

According to a Sept. 1 press release shared with crypto.news, the new markets expand OKX’s spot margin service for European customers, allowing eligible traders to take long or short positions across 10 additional tokens.

The exchange added HYPE/USDC, ZEC/USDC, LINK/USDC, ONDO/USDC, ENA/USDC, AAVE/USDC, NEAR/USDC, TRUMP/USDC, OKB/USDC, and BNB/USDC. Availability may depend on the customer’s location and account eligibility under local rules.

OKX spot margin adds 10 USDC markets

Under the expanded service, customers can borrow assets against collateral and use the funds to open positions larger than their account balance. OKX said selected markets support leverage of up to 10x, although the available limit may differ by pair and user.

Unlike a derivatives contract, a spot margin trade involves buying or selling the underlying asset with borrowed funds. A trader expecting a token to rise can borrow USDC to increase a purchase, while someone expecting a decline can borrow the token and sell it before attempting to repurchase it at a lower price.

According to the exchange’s European margin guide, interest begins accruing once an order is filled and continues until the debt is repaid. Customer assets serve as collateral for loans supplied by other users.

OKX said its borrowing charges are calculated hourly and apply only to the amount borrowed. The company does not impose a separate fee for opening the margin position or a recurring rollover charge, though normal trading and liquidation fees can still apply.

For Bitcoin, the exchange said borrowing rates begin at an annual percentage rate of 0.5%. Rates can vary by asset, customer tier, and market conditions, meaning the starting Bitcoin rate does not necessarily apply to each of the newly listed tokens.

Using a hypothetical example, OKX estimated that a €1,000 Bitcoin position held at 5x leverage for seven days would generate €0.08 in borrowing costs at a constant 0.5% APR, excluding trading and liquidation fees and assuming no price movement.

The company compared that amount with an unnamed platform charging a 0.02% opening fee and another 0.02% every four hours. Under OKX’s calculation, the same hypothetical position would cost €8.60 over one week on the competing platform. The comparison was supplied by OKX and does not identify the platform or account for possible changes in either company’s rates.

NEAR and ENA lead the listed tokens

CoinGecko data showed that six of the 10 newly supported tokens had gained over the preceding 24 hours at the time of writing, while three declined and ONDO traded nearly unchanged.

NEAR recorded the largest increase, rising 7.2% to $2.01 on approximately $299.8 million in daily trading volume. ENA followed with a 5.6% advance to $0.1610 as its 24-hour volume reached about $629.2 million.

AAVE gained 2.7% to $127.59, while ZEC climbed 1.6% to $855.22. HYPE rose 1.5% to $83.33, supported by roughly $1.43 billion in daily volume, and LINK added 0.5% to trade at $11.38.

ONDO changed by less than 0.1% and traded near $0.3444. Among the declining tokens, BNB fell 0.4% to $686.29, OKB lost 0.5% to $110.92, and TRUMP dropped 0.8% to $2.39, according to CoinGecko.

Daily gains do not remove the additional risk created by leverage. OKX’s margin documentation states that leverage increases both potential profits and losses, while interest continues to accrue until borrowed assets are fully repaid.

Under cross-margin settings, OKX calculates risk across the assets held in the account. The platform’s cross-margin documentation says positions may be partly or fully liquidated if adjusted account equity becomes insufficient to meet maintenance-margin requirements. Isolated margin can confine the collateral and debt to an individual position, depending on the market and account configuration.

USDC supports OKX’s European expansion

All 10 additions are quoted against USDC, placing the dollar-backed stablecoin at the center of the expansion. OKX had already introduced a way for eligible European customers to deposit USDT and convert it into USDC across 30 European Union and European Economic Area countries.

On July 18, crypto.news reported on the conversion, which was introduced as European platforms adjusted their stablecoin services to comply with the Markets in Crypto-Assets framework.

The regional competition changed further after some rival platforms faced licensing limits. A July 5 report found that Binance customers in France had retained withdrawal access but lost trading access after the exchange did not secure approval before the applicable MiCA deadline.

OKX has also added products beyond conventional cryptocurrency pairs. On June 9, the exchange introduced 13 X Perps for European users, providing price exposure linked to U.S. stocks, exchange-traded funds, equity indexes and commodities, including Apple, Nvidia, SPY, QQQ, gold and oil.

For U.S. readers, the connection comes through USDC and the assets supporting the stablecoin rather than direct access to the European offer. OKX’s Sept. 1 announcement applies to European customers and does not state that the 10-pair rollout extends to accounts in the United States.

Circle, the U.S.-based issuer of USDC, says the stablecoin is redeemable one-for-one for U.S. dollars and backed by highly liquid cash and cash-equivalent assets. According to Circle’s reserve disclosure, most USDC reserves are held in the Circle Reserve Fund, an SEC-registered government money market fund managed by BlackRock.

Circle says the fund may hold cash, short-dated U.S. Treasury securities and overnight Treasury repurchase agreements, while Bank of New York Mellon serves as custodian. BlackRock publishes daily portfolio reporting, and Circle provides monthly third-party reserve assurances.

OKX’s European customers therefore use a U.S. dollar-denominated settlement asset when borrowing or trading across the new markets. The company’s announcement did not disclose initial borrowing limits, liquidity levels or asset-specific APRs for the 10 pairs, leaving those terms to the rates and position tiers displayed to eligible customers on the platform.