Coinbase has filed two SEC notices as it works to offer single stock perpetual contracts in the United States. The Sept. 1 filings cover its regulated derivatives exchange and brokerage businesses, while the company continues discussions with U.S. financial regulators.
Coinbase confirmed the move in a Sept. 3 post on X. It said the company was working to bring single-stock perpetual products to U.S. customers.
What Do Coinbase’s Perpetual Contracts Filings Cover?
Coinbase Derivatives, LLC, filled out form 1-N with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Meanwhile, Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc., submitted the form BD-N.
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The Form 1-N enables a regulated exchange by the CFTC to register with the SEC solely for the purpose of trading in security futures products. Coinbase Derivatives has been operating as a contract market designated by the CFTC since 2020.
The forms contain information about the organization’s structure, regulations, systems, operations, and disciplinary procedures.
But the filing does not turn Coinbase Derivatives into a stock exchange. Instead, the registration will be solely limited to security futures.
Coinbase Financial Markets filed the Form BD-N for the brokering arm. The form enables an eligible registrant of the CFTC to register as a broker-dealer in connection with security futures.
Currently, the business has registered as a futures commission merchant at the CFTC.
Hence, the two forms cater to two different purposes. The former can list the contracts while the latter can facilitate regulated access for customers.
Neither the two filings indicates that the proposed stock perpetual contracts have been approved for trading purposes.
Why Does Coinbase Want to Bring Stock Perpetuals to the US?
Coinbase is already offering stock perpetual futures for eligible users outside of the United States.
The company started the new service in March for international users. The service is not accessible to users in the U.S.
The first batch includes Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, Nvidia, Meta, and Tesla. The list also included products connected to SPY and QQQ ETFs.
The international stock perpetual futures were trading on a continuous basis. The initial leverage ratio was 10x for stock products and 20x for ETF contracts.
Positions could be settled using USDC. It was also possible to cross margin-eligible positions with other spot or perpetual positions.
Unlike regular futures, perpetual futures do not expire on a certain date. Funding payments maintain the correlation between the contract price and its underlying asset price.
Thus, it is possible to take a long or short position without purchasing the underlying stocks.
It is not known whether the terms will be identical in the case of U.S. products. The details of trading hours, leverage ratios, settlement process, and stocks offered are unknown.
How Has Coinbase Expanded Its Derivatives Business?
SEC announcements come amid several changes in Coinbase’s regulated derivatives business in 2026.
In May, CFTC staff provided regulatory relief for Coinbase Financial Markets pertaining to certain derivatives traded on Deribit. Coinbase acquired the offshore derivatives exchange in the course of its development.
Furthermore, Coinbase made crypto perpetual futures available for American customers within its regulated activities.
On September 2, Coinbase developed its business in Canada. It started offering 23 futures products to eligible investors, among which are futures contracts based on Bitcoin, Ether, Solana, and 20 more crypto-assets.
Leverage of offered futures products from Canada is up to 10 times.
According to the data provided by Coinbase, the trading volume of derivatives at Coinbase Derivatives was around $1.75 billion in 24 hours as of September 3. On Coinbase International Exchange, about $9.7 billion.
What Regulatory Risks Could Affect a US Launch?
The regulatory status of perpetual contracts continues to be debated in the US. CME Group took the CFTC to court in June for the latter’s stance on crypto perpetual products traded on platforms like Coinbase and Kalshi.
CME contended that contracts without expiry dates are considered swaps under the Dodd-Frank Act. In addition, they do not have to be regulated like traditional futures.
However, the CFTC rejected the argument and called the lawsuit “frivolous.” No court ruling has so far overturned the current regulatory treatment of crypto perpetual products.
Concerns over leverage, volatile funding rates, manipulation, and price convergence were also highlighted by regulators.
Stock derivatives represent another regulatory issue. The contracts will continue to be active when the exchanges dealing in the stocks are closed.
According to Coinbase’s international filings, equity perpetual contracts have liquidity, execution, and volatility risks during non-business hours of the stock market.
The September 1 filing does not provide details on how Coinbase will resolve such issues in the US. No information has been provided regarding funding calculation, margin requirements, position limits, clearing arrangements, and trading hours.
The filings thus make a regulatory move rather than an announcement of product launch. Coinbase still has to make disclosures on the final structure and operation of the contracts to US traders.
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