Categories: Market Watch

Coinbase to Launch CFTC-Regulated Futures Trading For 5 Altcoins

Coinbase Derivatives plans to launch margined futures contracts for Avalanche (AVAX), Chainlink (LINK), Polkadot (DOT), Stellar (XLM), and Shiba Inu (SHIB). On June 28, the service published an announcement and submitted filings to the CFTC to list each contract under a self-certification model. It intends to launch the products on July 15.

Coinbase Derivatives said it is the first US futures exchange to offer margined futures contracts for each token and is “excited to lead market accessibility.” Coinbase Derivatives said the contracts will allow participants to manage risk, speculate on price movements, and invest with lower upfront capital requirements.

The exchange added that it will cooperate with the clearing house Nodal Clear, third-party futures commission merchants (FCMs), and retail brokers. The five tokens did not experience a significant price move on the news and have mostly been following the wider market downtrend.

As of press time, LINK was trading at $13.7, down 4.3% over the past 24 hours. SHIB was down 3.7% and trading at $0.00002 per token, while DOT was down 1.9% to $6.19 per token.

Two assets saw near-zero changes: XLM fell 0.3%, while AVAX gained 0.3%. The two tokens were trading at $0.09 and $27.98, respectively, as of press time. CoinGecko data indicates that Coinbase Derivatives experienced $34.1 million in 24-hour open interest and $971.8 million in 24-hour volume on June 28.

The service already offers various contracts, including Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) futures, BTC nano futures, and ETH nano futures. In April, it added Dogecoin (DOGE), Litcoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) futures. It also offers crude oil and gold contracts.

The US-focused derivatives service is distinct from Coinbase’s international exchange. Coinbase opened the latter service, based in Bermuda, with an initial focus on derivatives in 2023 and has since expanded it beyond it into other trading.

Terron Gold