COIN
Coinbase gets the derivatives pass
Coinbase just scored a pretty big regulatory win: the CFTC gave it the green light to offer global crypto perpetual futures. In plain English, that means the biggest U.S. crypto exchange can now tap into one of crypto’s favorite playgrounds — leveraged contracts that never expire and can keep traders glued to the screen like it’s a marathon of bad decisions.
Why this matters for your wallet
This isn’t just a “nice to have” headline. Perps are a major volume machine in crypto, and volume usually means fees. If Coinbase can pull activity from both U.S. customers and offshore markets through Deribit, that could give the company another growth lever beyond boring old spot trading.
The approval also matters because it nudges Coinbase deeper into the global derivatives game while keeping one foot planted in the regulated U.S. camp. That’s a sweet spot if it works: more product breadth, more trading activity, and potentially more sticky users who don’t bounce after one Bitcoin rally.
A crowded crypto party
The article also notes that Binance is expanding into U.S. stock and ETF trading, which is a reminder that the crypto exchange crowd is all trying to become the everything app. Meanwhile, Sequans Communications is exiting its Bitcoin treasury strategy, which is a very different kind of crypto pivot — less “moon mission,” more “please stop the bleeding.”
Big picture: Coinbase just got another reason for traders to keep watching it as more than a simple buy-sell crypto kiosk. If derivatives volume follows the hype, this could be a meaningful new revenue lane.