CFTC allows Coinbase to connect U.S. users to Deribit perps
CFTC issued a no-action letter permitting Coinbase to route U.S. customers to offshore perpetual crypto futures traded on Deribit.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Friday issued a 16-page no-action letter that permits Coinbase to connect U.S. customers to perpetual futures contracts traded on Deribit, the offshore exchange Coinbase acquired last year for $2.9 billion. The letter covers all “digital commodity” perpetual futures listed on Deribit, and Coinbase will decide which specific tokens to make available to U.S. clients.
Perpetual futures are derivatives with no expiration date that let traders take leveraged positions on crypto prices. Traders borrow funds to amplify gains or losses, and exchanges may liquidate positions when margin requirements are not met. That structure can produce rapid, large losses when prices move sharply.
In one session last fall, extreme price swings and high leverage led to roughly $19 billion in liquidations within minutes. Trading in perpetual futures remains sizable: perps volume exceeded $588 billion in the most recent month, compared with about $160 billion in total decentralized finance trading over the same period.
The CFTC has been moving to bring perpetual futures into the U.S. regulatory framework for more than a year. On the same day it issued the Coinbase letter, the agency approved a domestic bitcoin perpetual futures product from Kalshi. Earlier agency decisions allowed firms to offer long-dated futures under conditions that limited their duration.
The no-action letter states other U.S. exchanges may reference the agency’s guidance when seeking similar permission. Coinbase has not named which Deribit markets it will enable for U.S. customers and said it will evaluate tokens for suitability and regulatory compliance before offering specific contracts.
Regulatory oversight for derivatives that reference digital commodities such as bitcoin and ethereum falls under the CFTC. Exchanges are responsible for operational and risk-management controls, including leverage limits, margin protocols and procedures for handling rapid price moves. The CFTC clearance removes a legal barrier to accessing offshore perpetual futures but does not change the underlying market risks associated with leveraged derivatives.
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