The US Commodity Futures Trading Commission has opened the door for Coinbase and other CFTC-registered exchanges to offer regulated access to global crypto derivatives markets.
On Friday, Coinbase announced its subsidiary, Coinbase Financial Markets, has become the first US-regulated Futures Commission Merchant to offer domestic clients access to global crypto derivatives. Crypto derivatives account for roughly 80% of global crypto trading volume, the company said.
US clients can now access global crypto perpetuals and options on futures without offshore workarounds, including access to Deribit, which holds over $31 billion in Bitcoin options open interest. Perpetual futures and additional collateral types are set to follow.
The CFTC confirmed the categorization of certain crypto perpetuals as "foreign futures" and issued a non-action letter regarding transfers of customer crypto assets to foreign brokers as margin. Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong thanked CFTC Chairman Michael Selig for recognizing that US customers deserve regulated access.
