Key Takeaways
- Coinbase Derivatives filed Form 1-N and Coinbase Financial Markets filed Form BD-N with the SEC on Sept. 1.
- The firm’s shares jumped 10% to $192.70 on the news, but CFTC product approval is still needed before launch.
- Coinbase has offered 10x perps on Apple, Nvidia and Tesla to non-U.S. users since March 20, settled in USDC.
What Was Filed
The filings, dated Sept. 1, cover two regulated arms. Coinbase Derivatives filed Form 1-N to register as a security futures exchange, and Coinbase Financial Markets submitted Form BD-N to register as a limited-purpose security futures broker-dealer.
Coinbase chief policy officer Faryar Shirzad further added that approval from the CFTC would come next, adding:
Equity perps have proven demand internationally, and we’re excited at the prospect of a regulated pathway for U.S. investors. The coordination between the SEC and CFTC making this possible is long overdue, and it’s exactly what needs to happen for the U.S. to stay competitive on products investors already want.
Shares of Coinbase (Nasdaq: COIN) rose 10.14% to $192.70 following the announcement.
A Product Already Running Abroad
Perpetual futures, or perps, are derivative contracts with no expiry date. A funding rate paid between long and short positions keeps the contract price tethered to the underlying asset, letting traders hold leveraged long or short exposure indefinitely without owning the shares.
Coinbase launched the stock version for non-U.S. customers on March 20 with the initial lineup covering the so-called Magnificent Seven, i.e. Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta and Tesla, plus contracts tracking the SPY and QQQ exchange-traded funds (ETFs) in select jurisdictions.
U.S. persons were expressly barred from that launch. The new filings are the first formal attempt to change that.
The ‘Everything Exchange’ Roadmap
In June, CEO Brian Armstrong said the platform “now includes pre-IPO perps, stock options, and tokenized stocks soon,” with the derivatives push underpinned by the company’s $2.9 billion acquisition of Deribit. Similarly, head of consumer and business products Max Branzburg has described the goal as “one account for everything you trade, settled instantly, open 24/7.”
Coinbase is not the only firm pursuing onshore perps as Hyperliquid is also seeking U.S. entry through a partnership with Kraken parent Payward, after President Donald Trump said the CFTC was working to bring the platform onshore “in a fully compliant and legal fashion.”
However, before any of that happens, the CFTC must approve the contracts themselves before any U.S. customer can trade them. Until then, the filings establish the legal entities that would list and broker the product, and signal that Coinbase intends to run the same 24/7, USDC-settled model it operates abroad.
Coinbase already runs CFTC-regulated perpetual-style crypto futures for U.S. customers, so the plumbing for funding-rate contracts onshore exists. Whether regulators extend that model to individual equities, and accept 10x leverage on single names or demand tighter limits, is the open question the next filing will answer.
