Key Takeaways:
After years of waiting on the sidelines, U.S. crypto traders can finally tap into the world’s most dominant crypto derivatives tool: perpetual futures. On July 21, 2025, Coinbase officially opened access to these high-leverage, no-expiry contracts through a fully CFTC-regulated platform, ushering in a new chapter in U.S. digital asset trading.
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For years, American traders were cut off from the core of global crypto trading. While international users enjoyed seamless access to perpetual futures contracts – tools allowing them to trade with leverage and open-ended positions; U.S. residents were left to navigate a maze of restrictions and offshore platforms with questionable compliance standards.
Now, Coinbase Financial Markets (CFM), a CFTC-regulated entity, brings perpetual futures home to the U.S., in a move that could reshape the domestic trading landscape.
At launch, two contracts are available:
While dubbed “nano,” these contracts still pack power—especially with up to 10x intraday leverage available for crypto pairs, and 20x for metals futures like gold and silver.
In contrast to the traditional future where the contracts expire on a monthly or quarterly basis, the new kind of the contract offered by Coinbase has a 5-year expiration date in a manner of a perpetual future. They are not working around this, they are actually trying to design around the goal of striking a balance between regulatory compliance and the flexibility of the user.
For traders, that means:
By extension, this should make Coinbase perpetuals among the most accessible-indeed, some would argue accessible in a way never before seen in the industry-worldwide, to such retail investors, not just institutions.
The offering is CFTC regulated, for the safety and transparency it is greatly desired. All these products are available only after their traders undergo KYC checks and fill in a short application form to enable futures trading.
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Until now, American crypto traders have had to resort to overseas platforms like Binance, Bybit and OKX to trade perpetual contracts. The above platforms have more leverage, yet very little regulatory protection, which exposes them to both marketing and legal risk.
Coinbase changes the game with regulated approach.
By offering perpetuals in a CFTC-compliant format, Coinbase eliminates the key legal risk barrier that’s driven U.S. users overseas. Now, Americans can trade with:
This shift is expected to trigger a migration of capital back to U.S.-based platforms repatriating volume that’s long flowed through offshore exchanges.
Perpetual futures aren’t a niche product. They’re the main engine of global crypto trading, accounting for:
That dominance is driven by their design: no expiries, high leverage, and constant funding payments that align spot and futures prices.
Until now, the U.S. was one of the few major markets excluded from the party.
Coinbase’s launch sends a clear message: the U.S. is ready to catch up.
It’s also a strategic play in the broader exchange wars. Coinbase has historically been seen as a compliance-first spot exchange, while derivatives were the realm of offshore competitors.
But things are changing fast. Coinbase has:
At launch, only BTC and ETH contracts are available, but that’s likely to change. Based on user demand and market trends, Coinbase is already preparing to expand its futures suite.
Expected upcoming contracts include:
The goal? To offer a full spectrum of crypto and non-crypto trading tools, all under a single compliant roof. This would position Coinbase not just as a crypto exchange but as a full-scale regulated digital asset trading hub.
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