Coinbase Brings Global Crypto Derivatives to US Market
Tl;dr: Coinbase Financial Markets is now the first and only US-regulated FCM offering access to global crypto derivatives markets, including crypto perpetual futures and options. Existing US providers offer access to domestic futures exchanges, but none connect clients to global crypto perpetual futures and options liquidity. Institutional clients can begin onboarding today.
A first for US crypto
Crypto derivatives account for roughly 80% of global crypto trading volume. Options, perpetual futures, and other instruments drive the majority of that activity across international venues. This is a multi-trillion dollar market in annual trading volume that US customers have had no regulated way to access.
Today that changes. Guidance issued by the CFTC positions Coinbase Financial Markets as the first CFTC-regulated FCM to connect US clients to global crypto options and perpetual futures liquidity. US clients will at long last have a fully regulated, compliant solution to access all of crypto's largest markets.
What this changes
The absence of a regulated path hasn't just limited what US customers can trade. It has meant fragmented infrastructure, capital split across multiple venues, and operational complexity that grows with every strategy. Some US institutional customers have had to establish offshore entities just to access these markets, adding counterparty exposure and duplicative infrastructure costs.
Coinbase Financial Markets resolves this. Through a single CFTC-regulated FCM, US clients can now access global crypto perps and options on futures, without the offshore workarounds. That includes access to Deribit, which holds over $31 billion* in bitcoin options open interest alone, representing the vast majority of the global options market.
Getting started
Institutional clients can begin onboarding today. Options on Deribit are live through Coinbase Financial Markets, with contracts and collateral types expanding with perpetual futures to follow.
If you're an existing Prime client, contact your account representative to begin onboarding. If you're new to Prime, visit here to learn more and register your interest.
Broader client access, including retail, is coming soon.
A more complete market
Coinbase has been rebuilding traditional financial markets on crypto-native infrastructure. Equities, futures, and prediction markets all operate 24/7 on our platform. Today's announcement adds the largest and most liquid category of global crypto trading to that lineup.
We're grateful to Chairman Selig and the CFTC for recognizing that US customers deserve regulated access to these critical markets.
* Source: Deribit as of 05/28
DISCLOSURES
Listed futures, swaps and options are offered via Coinbase Financial Markets (“CFM”), a NFA member firm. Spot accounts are maintained by Coinbase Inc., which is not CFTC registered and is not a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”).
Trading in futures involves substantial risks. You should only trade in financial products that you are familiar with and understand the associated risks, and after carefully considering whether such trading is suitable in light of your investment experience, financial position, and investment objectives. Leverage in futures trading can work for you or against you. The risk of loss using leverage can exceed your initial investment amount.
