BitMEX delists OKCoin in bitcoin price index as the exchange suspends USD deposit

OKCoin International, the Singapore entity of one of the leading Chinese cryptocurrency exchanges OKCoin announced that USD deposits have been blocked. In response to that development, popular crypto derivatives exchange BitMEX announced its second weighting of 0 to a popular exchange just days apart, as Bitfinex out of Hong Kong announced the same measures a couple days ago.

The BitMEX team said they do not expect the change to dramatically affect the index price, nor do they believe there to be immediate danger of OKCoin Intl’s BTC/USD price diverging, but the company opted to give traders due notice.

The new index distribution will now be equally weighted between just GDAX and Bitstamp, with the following timetable:

At 21:45 UTC, GDAX will be added to the index. At this time, the index will have three constituents.
At 22:00 UTC, OKCoin International will be removed.

Additionally, BitMEX said they will be announcing new price protection mechanisms for its bitcoin indices to prevent further pricing issues.

Last month, we were quick to report that OKCoin Intl suspended its OTC trading desk, which allowed for the purchasing of bitcoin in bulk. The move made back then can now be seen as a forewarning to something like this occurring.

We will continue to provide any further updates on the money transfer situations at both OKCoin at Bitfinex. However, bitcoin does not seem to mind the disturbances at the two popular exchanges, as the BTC price continues to hover solidly around the $1,200 level showing little signs of weakness.