For a long time, US institutions have faced difficulties accessing the global crypto perpetual contract market through domestic compliance channels, but this situation is beginning to change. On May 29, Coinbase Financial Markets was granted permission to provide US clients with access to international crypto perpetual contract and options liquidity, with the relevant services initially open to institutional investors.

CFTC's new guidelines open channels

This development is related to the latest guidance from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). The new framework allows institutional clients to access the global crypto derivatives market through regulated U.S. brokerage structures, reducing their reliance on offshore entities and decentralized account arrangements.

For a long time, perpetual contracts and options have accounted for the majority of global crypto trading volume, but access to compliant systems in the United States has been limited. As a result, some institutions have chosen to establish entities overseas to gain deeper liquidity, while also accepting higher operational complexity and counterparty risk.

Prime customers have started connecting.

Coinbase stated that the onboarding process for Prime institutional clients commenced immediately upon receiving permission. The new arrangement integrates the international perpetual contracts and options markets into a single compliant path, facilitating institutional access through a single platform.

Currently, retail customers are not included in this program. Coinbase has not yet announced a timeline for a wider rollout, and at this stage, institutional trading clients are the primary beneficiaries.

Deribit options are now available.

This expansion also relies on Coinbase's integration of Deribit. Following the acquisition last year, Coinbase launched Deribit options through Coinbase Financial Markets, with perpetual futures expected to follow.

• Perpetual contracts and options account for approximately 80% of global cryptocurrency trading volume.
• Deribit's open interest in Bitcoin options exceeds $31 billion.
• The initial beneficiaries are Coinbase Prime institutional clients.

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong stated that this arrangement will, for the first time, allow US users compliant access to most of the previously inaccessible global crypto markets. If all goes smoothly, Coinbase's position as a gateway to crypto derivatives for US institutions could further improve.