HIBT launches event contracts and adds early sell, API access, OKQuant tie-in
HIBT, a crypto exchange, launched its event contracts product on August 18, 2026, describing it as a long-term build rather than a quick feature addition. The platform emphasized simpler, fairer, and more reliable trading. On August 25, HIBT expanded the offering with early sell functionality, reviewed API access, and an approved integration with OKQuant. The moves are part of a broader push to build out trading infrastructure for event contracts.
HIBT enters a crowded field where Novig just posted a $125 million opening week and Polymarket is pushing CFTC-certified parlays. As a crypto-native exchange with no CFTC registration, HIBT is betting that retail crypto traders will treat event contracts as another derivatives vertical rather than migrating to regulated U.S. venues. The OKQuant integration hints at algorithmic liquidity from quant trading shops, but without regulatory clarity HIBT risks being frozen out of U.S. users if enforcement tightens.
The early-sell feature addresses a pain point Kalshi and Polymarket only recently solved, suggesting HIBT is copying the regulated playbook at speed. For traders, the product is another unregulated alternative with familiar crypto exchange UX. Whether that pulls volume from established prediction markets or merely competes for the same crypto-trader wallet depends on whether HIBT can match Novig's sweepstakes-scale marketing or Polymarket's political-event dominance. The infrastructure push shows HIBT plans to stay in the game past trial mode.