America’s biggest crypto exchange, Coinbase, has secured regulatory approval to roll out crypto futures trading for institutional investors in the United States, marking a significant milestone.
Coinbase has won approval to offer regulated crypto futures to U.S. customers.
The San Francisco-based exchange announced on Aug. 16 that it had received the green light from the National Futures Association (NFA) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). This means that the company can now operate as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM), and can therefore offer investments in Bitcoin and Ethereum futures to verified users in the United States.
According to the announcement, the approval makes Coinbase the pioneer in offering U.S.-based customers traditional spot trading alongside regulated and leveraged crypto futures.
“Offering US investors access to secure and regulated crypto futures is key to unlocking growth and enabling broader participation in the crypto economy,” opined the CEO of Coinbase Financial Markets Andrew Sears.
It should be noted that the service will not be immediately available to clients. However, Coinbase has urged users to join a waitlist for early access.
As Coinbase postulated in its Wednesday statement, getting those approvals has been a long time coming. Coinbase submitted an application with the National Futures Association to register as an FCM in September of 2021. The firm has been laying the groundwork to offer crypto derivatives ever since, even acquiring CFTC-registered derivatives platform FairX in early 2022.
Coinbase is currently locked in a suit with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for allegedly operating as an unregistered exchange and clearing agency.
Listing crypto futures in the U.S. opens up a potentially massive market for Coinbase, which the exchange claims represents roughly 75% of crypto trading volume worldwide. Coinbase has cited this new development as evidence of its commitment to comply with U.S. regulations.
Coinbase filed a motion to throw out the SEC case earlier this month, arguing that the regulator’s approach goes far beyond the existing legal framework.
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