Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) and Kalshi have been approved to offer perpetual crypto futures trading.
In a series of updates, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced that “certain crypto asset perpetuals” will be allowed via a no-action letter.
Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM), a subsidiary of Coinbase, had requested the ruling on perpetuals. CFM plans to offer these products on Deribit FZE a crypto derivatives exchange based in Dubai. Deribit FZE is regulated by Dubai’s Virtual Assets Regulatory Authority (VARA) as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) for exchange services, including spot and derivatives trading. Deribit was acquired by Coinbase in 2025 for around $2.9 billion.
Margin trading will also be allowed.
The no-action letter cites Kalshi’s BTCPERP approval order, which was issued today, as precedent.
Kalshi submitted the BTCPERP Contract for review and approval on May 28, 2026.
Deribit is one of the most liquid crypto perpetual markets globally, generating around $1 billion in daily trade volume. In 2025, Deribit generated $1.875 trillion in total trading volume.
Coinbase International, which services non-US users, reports $5 to $6 billion in daily trade volume.
The CFTC’s decision represents a significant win for Coinbase, as it will now be able to add US perpetual trading to its platform.
Barron’s wrote that the no-action letter was also a win for Robinhood (NASDAQ:HOOD), which is expected to quickly move to offer a similar service.
Coinbase commented on the no-action letter, stating that the US customers will now have access to a regulated derivatives market.
“The absence of a regulated path hasn’t just limited what US customers can trade. It has meant fragmented infrastructure, capital split across multiple venues, and operational complexity that grows with every strategy. Some US institutional customers have had to establish offshore entities just to access these markets, adding counterparty exposure and duplicative infrastructure costs. Coinbase Financial Markets resolves this. Through a single CFTC-regulated FCM, US clients can now access global crypto perps and options on futures, without the offshore workarounds. That includes access to Deribit, which holds over $31 billion* in bitcoin options open interest alone, representing the vast majority of the global options market.”
Institutional customers can register to access the offerings as of today.
Shares of Robinhood and Coinbase rose today in a record trading day.
