The cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase has announced that, shortly after getting regulatory authorization to offer it, crypto futures trading would soon be available on its platform.
By providing the most widely used cryptocurrency trading option, which accounts for more than 75% of all trades globally due in large part to huge leverage, Coinbase may anticipate a jump in interest and regulators can have a better understanding of one of the riskiest plays on the market.
Though it had previously looked at making this option available to institutional investors and outside of the United States, Coinbase got official authority to provide derivatives trading from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) earlier this month.
- Coinbase has been given the go-ahead to operate as a platform for futures commission merchants, or FCMs.
- With this permission, Coinbase is now ready to launch ether and bitcoin futures contracts on its platform. Derivatives exchange governed by the CFTC.
Coinbase offers itself as a compliant choice for the market as the biggest crypto exchange in the United States. When it does start offering derivatives trading, it will do so in a form that is regulated that was previously not available to investors in the United States.
- This significant achievement confirms the dedication to running a regulated and compliant company and providing clients with the most reliable and secure crypto-native platform, Coinbase said in the statement.
Given that Coinbase is also being sued by the SEC for violating securities laws, the CFTC’s acceptance of it sends a conflicting message about how cryptocurrencies will be regulated in the United States. The licensing of derivatives is evidence that officials are more focused on watching the cryptocurrency market than on promoting activity elsewhere.
- This announcement comes amid Coinbase’s continuing legal dispute with the SEC in the United States.
- In the beginning of June, the regulator launched a case against Coinbase, claiming that the exchange sold unregistered securities in violation of state securities laws.
