Coinbase Offers Regulated Crypto Options and Perps to US Institutions
Coinbase Financial Markets has launched access to global crypto options and perpetual futures for U.S. institutional clients, marking a significant step in bringing crypto derivatives into regulated U.S. markets. The offering, enabled through Coinbases regulated futures commission merchant (FCM) and Deribit, comes under the oversight of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), according to an announcement on May 29, 2026. Deribit, acquired by Coinbase in August 2025, is the largest crypto options exchange by open interest. It held approximately $31 billion in bitcoin options open interest as of May 27, 2026, dwarfing competitors like OKX ($2.7 billion), Binance ($1.8 billion), and Bybit ($1.2 billion), according to CoinGlass data. This positions Coinbase to leverage Deribits liquidity dominance to attract institutional demand. The launch aligns with recent moves by U.S. regulators to “onshore” crypto derivatives trading. In September 2025, the CFTC and SEC jointly stated their interest in expanding regulated markets for perpetual futures, which have traditionally been a domain of offshore exchanges. Perpetual futures, or “perps,” are derivatives contracts with no expiration, popular among crypto traders for their flexibility and high leverage. Historically, these instruments have been traded primarily on platforms like Binance and OKX, which together account for nearly 50% of the