Historical analysis of how BitMEX's March 2020 outage interrupted a liquidation cascade and how Bybit's USDT-margined products and faster development captured market share from BitMEX.
DeFi & Yields ·
BitMEX's March 12, 2020 outage may have interrupted a liquidation cascade in inverse contracts that could have driven Bitcoin prices lower. The exchange pioneered perpetual contract infrastructure including funding rates, mark prices, and liquidation engines, but subsequently lost market share to Bybit through a combination of regulatory scrutiny, slower product development, and its continued focus on BTC-margined rather than USDT-margined offerings. Bybit captured users by offering USDT-margined products, faster feature iteration, and a broader super-app model, though BitMEX remains recognized as a significant product innovator in crypto derivatives despite its eventual decline and closure.