Coinbase Financial Markets has secured approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to operate as a futures commission merchant, becoming the first US-regulated firm to connect American clients directly to global crypto perpetuals and options markets. The move, announced May 29, opens up instruments that account for roughly 80% of worldwide crypto trading volume — a market that US traders could previously only access through offshore entities.
Deribit acquisition pays off
Coinbase bought Deribit earlier this year, and that acquisition is now bearing fruit. Deribit provides live options trading through Coinbase Financial Markets, with over $31 billion in Bitcoin options open interest. Perpetual futures contracts are next in line, though the company hasn't said exactly when they'll go live. The CFTC approval allows Coinbase to offer these products under US oversight.
What this means for institutions
Until this week, US institutions had to route their perpetual swap and crypto options trades through offshore venues. That meant higher counterparty risk and duplicative infrastructure costs — setting up separate legal entities, managing different compliance regimes. Now they can trade through a regulated domestic FCM, keeping the same global liquidity pools without the extra overhead. The change is immediate for institutional clients.
Retail timeline still unclear
Coinbase hasn't disclosed when retail traders will get access to these products. The approval covers institutional clients for now. Retail access is expected — the company has said as much — but there's no date. That leaves a gap: everyday traders still can't touch the 80% of volume that institutions now can. The CFTC's position on retail participation in crypto derivatives has been cautious, and Coinbase seems to be moving step by step.
Cboe's earlier effort
Cboe was the first to offer regulated perpetual contracts in the US, but those were limited to domestic venues and didn't tap into global liquidity. Coinbase's arrangement is different because it connects directly to the broader crypto derivatives market — the same order books that trade billions daily offshore. That's the key structural change the CFTC signed off on.
Coinbase didn't say when retail access would arrive. The CFTC approval is the first of its kind, but the agency's stance on broader retail participation in these products remains an open question.
