Coinbase cleared to connect U.S. clients to global crypto markets

Coinbase Financial Markets received clearance from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission on May 29 to connect U.S. clients to global crypto perpetual swaps and options. Options listed on Deribit are available now through Coinbase’s new futures commission merchant, and prime institutional onboarding began immediately.

The approval makes Coinbase Financial Markets the first U.S.-regulated futures commission merchant authorized to route domestic customers into these markets. Perpetual swaps and crypto options make up roughly 80% of global crypto trading volume.

Deribit options are live through the FCM. Coinbase expects to add perpetual futures contracts after completing remaining technical and regulatory steps. Coinbase acquired Deribit last year.

Coinbase began onboarding hedge funds, asset managers and other professional traders, allowing them to access global liquidity through a single regulated broker rather than by creating offshore entities. Before the CFTC action, many U.S. institutions established overseas subsidiaries to trade perpetuals and options, which added counterparty exposure and duplicated infrastructure costs.

Deribit holds more than $31 billion in bitcoin options open interest, according to Coinbase. Orders routed via the arrangement will reach global markets rather than being confined to U.S.-only trading venues. Earlier this year, Cboe introduced continuous futures contracts in the U.S.; those products remain limited to domestic venues and do not tap global perpetual liquidity.

CFTC chair Mike Selig described the agency’s action as “historic,” saying it “permit[ted] the listing of a true bitcoin perpetual contract by a CFTC-registered exchange” and that it charts a path for a large segment of crypto markets to operate within the U.S. regulatory framework.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong wrote on X that U.S. traders had been locked out of about 80% of global crypto markets and called the clearance an end to that gap.

Retail access has not been scheduled; Coinbase will announce timing for individual traders at a later date.

The decision follows prior CFTC approvals, including a leveraged spot trading framework cleared in late 2024. The clearance establishes a regulated U.S. on-ramp to perpetuals and options while keeping trading activity subject to U.S. oversight and compliance requirements.