Coinbase Financial Markets has been granted approval from the National Futures Association (NFA) to operate as a Futures Commission Merchant (FCM). This approval allows Coinbase to become the first crypto-focused platform in the US to offer regulated and leveraged crypto futures alongside traditional spot trading.
I have been vocal about the benefits of bringing appropriate crypto activities into the regulated space in order to protect customers, but in a way that supports oversight, accountability, transparency, and risk management, said CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero.
Coinbase first applied to join the NFA in September 2021, and the approval comes nearly two years later. The role of FCMs is to buy or sell futures contracts, similar to that of a market maker.
The crypto unit of the Cboe Global Markets, Cboe Digital, received approval from the CFTC to offer margined bitcoin and ether futures contracts in June.
COIN shares on the Nasdaq are up over 5% at $83.20 in pre-market trading.