Coinbase Derivatives has announced that it will launch US Perpetual-Style Futures on July 21, bringing a domestically regulated alternative to a product category that has long dominated crypto trading outside the United States. The move is significant because perpetual futures are one of the most widely used instruments in global crypto markets, yet US traders have historically had limited access to comparable products through onshore regulated venues.
According to Coinbase, the new contracts are designed to mirror the functionality of international perpetual futures while still complying with US regulatory standards. That positioning is central to the launch. In offshore crypto markets, perpetual futures are often the default derivatives product for both speculative traders and hedgers. Coinbase cited reports suggesting that, in some cases, perpetual futures account for more than 90% of total crypto trading activity. With this rollout, Coinbase is attempting to bring a similar trading structure into a US-regulated environment.
What products Coinbase is launching
The initial launch will include two contracts: nano Bitcoin Perpetual-Style Futures and nano Ether Perpetual-Style Futures. The Bitcoin contract will be sized at 0.01 BTC, while the Ether contract will be sized at 0.10 ETH. These smaller contract sizes are important because they lower the capital threshold for participation and give traders more precision when sizing positions, adjusting exposure, or managing risk.
Rather than introducing a purely open-ended offshore-style perpetual contract, Coinbase is using a structure adapted to the US market. The contracts will have five-year expirations while still offering many of the practical features traders associate with perpetual futures. They will also trade 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, which aligns them more closely with the nonstop nature of crypto markets than traditional exchange-traded futures products that often trade on more limited schedules.
Coinbase says the purpose of these products is to provide regulated access to Bitcoin and broader crypto-market exposure while preserving flexibility in position sizing and improving capital efficiency. The exchange has also indicated that additional details on market access through partner platforms will be shared before the official launch date. That suggests the company is building not just a listing, but a broader distribution path for these contracts within the US market structure.
How the funding-rate mechanism works
One of the defining features of perpetual-style products is the funding rate mechanism, and Coinbase is incorporating this feature into its US offering. The reason is straightforward: funding is used to help keep the futures price close to the underlying spot market price. In global crypto derivatives markets, this mechanism is one of the main ways perpetual contracts avoid drifting too far away from the asset they track.
For Coinbase’s contracts, funding will accrue hourly and will be settled twice daily during designated cash adjustment periods. This hybrid approach blends the continuous pricing logic of perpetual markets with a more clearly defined settlement process suitable for a regulated exchange environment. It preserves the economic function traders expect while fitting into a domestic compliance framework.
Although the article does not provide the full formula for how funding will be calculated, the broad design is clear. If futures prices move away from spot levels, the funding process creates an incentive structure that encourages convergence. That mechanism is a key reason these contracts can be marketed as “perpetual-style” rather than merely long-dated standard futures. In practice, funding costs may affect the economics of holding a position over time, especially for active traders using leverage or maintaining directional exposure over multiple sessions.
Why Coinbase sees a gap in the US market
Coinbase explicitly highlights the problem it is trying to solve: many US-based traders currently access perpetual futures through offshore platforms. While those platforms may offer deep liquidity and familiar product design, they also introduce a range of risks. Coinbase identifies regulatory risk, custody risk, and counterparty risk as major concerns for traders using offshore venues from the United States.
A domestic alternative could materially change the decision-making process for traders and institutions that want derivatives exposure without relying on external jurisdictions. From Coinbase’s perspective, the new contracts are not just another listing. They are meant to redirect demand from offshore platforms toward a regulated onshore venue. That may be especially relevant for participants that need stronger compliance standards, clearer legal protections, or more formal operational controls around asset handling and market access.
Coinbase described the launch in ambitious terms, calling it a transformative milestone and the beginning of a new era in US market access, efficiency, and innovation. While that language is promotional, it also reflects a larger industry shift. The US market appears to be moving, gradually, toward building local versions of product structures that have already become standard globally. If successful, Coinbase’s offering could become part of a broader normalization of crypto derivatives within regulated domestic infrastructure.
Coinbase’s broader regulatory push in Europe
The article also places the futures launch in a wider strategic context by referencing Coinbase’s recent regulatory progress in Europe. On June 20, Coinbase obtained a license under the European Union’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) from Luxembourg’s financial regulator. This license allows the company to operate across all 27 EU member states under one unified framework.
The practical impact is substantial. Instead of relying on a patchwork of country-by-country permissions, Coinbase can now serve approximately 450 million Europeans under a single regulatory structure. The new license replaces separate licenses the company previously held in Germany, France, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, and Spain. That simplification can improve operational consistency, reduce regulatory fragmentation, and make product rollout more efficient across the region.
Daniel Seifert said the milestone enables Coinbase to operate in a unified, regulated crypto environment in one of the world’s largest economic regions, while also reinforcing the company’s position as a global leader in compliance and innovation. When viewed together, the MiCA development and the US perpetual-style futures launch point to the same strategic pattern: Coinbase is expanding market access in parallel with regulatory alignment. Rather than treating compliance as separate from product growth, the company is using regulatory approvals as a foundation for broader international expansion and new trading offerings.