The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has approved Coinbase to provide U.S. customers with access to offshore crypto perpetual markets. Through its subsidiary Deribit, Coinbase has become the first U.S. exchange to receive this approval, expanding U.S. users' access to the global crypto derivatives market.
Access provided through Deribit
Reports indicate that Coinbase will provide U.S. customers with access to global crypto perpetual contracts through Deribit, an offshore crypto options and derivatives platform that Coinbase acquired last year for $2.9 billion.
Perpetual contracts have no expiration date and typically allow traders to use leverage to amplify their positions. These products are highly liquid but are more susceptible to liquidations and cascading clears during periods of sharp market volatility.
Can cover various types of digital goods
According to insiders, Coinbase has not yet determined which assets will be listed for perpetual contracts initially. However, the CFTC has permitted it to offer access to perpetual contracts classified as "digital commodities" on Deribit.
- Bitcoin
- Ethereum
- Solana, Dogecoin, and TRUMP tokens
Which assets will ultimately be made available to U.S. customers will remain at Coinbase’s discretion.
CFTC issues a no-action letter
On Thursday, Coinbase sent a letter to the CFTC requesting a no-action letter, whereby the regulator would refrain from taking enforcement action regarding its proposed activities. Less than 24 hours later, the CFTC responded with a 16-page document outlining new policies permitting such activities.
This document not only clears the way for Coinbase but also provides a regulatory roadmap for other U.S. exchanges. The market generally expects more U.S. platforms to follow suit and launch similar products.
The perpetual futures market is very large.
According to DeFi Llama data cited in the article, over the past month, cryptocurrency perpetual contract trading volume exceeded $588 billion, while total DeFi ecosystem trading volume during the same period was approximately $160 billion, demonstrating that derivatives markets remain one of the core segments of crypto trading.
High trading volume also brings higher risk. The report mentioned that during a brief but sharp price swing last fall, approximately $19 billion in crypto positions were liquidated within minutes, with leveraged liquidations being one of the main causes.
Kalshi was approved on the same day.
On the same day, besides Coinbase, the prediction market platform Kalshi also received CFTC approval to launch its own Bitcoin perpetual futures product in the United States, indicating that domestic U.S. crypto perpetual products are advancing in tandem.