Coinbase gains CFTC approval to clear its own derivatives trades

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission registered Coinbase Clearing LLC as a derivatives clearing organization on Monday. Coinbase already held a designated contract market registration through Coinbase Derivatives, LLC. It also held a futures commission merchant registration through Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc. Coinbase said it can now create and settle fully collateralized contracts directly. The company expects the approval to speed up product development and reduce dependencies when launching new products. Coinbase Clearing accepts USDC as collateral. It settles 24 hours a day. Coinbase Clearing handles fully collateralized contracts. Coinbase's margined derivatives business will continue to clear through existing partners. Its planned single-stock perpetuals on Apple, Tesla and Nvidia will also clear through existing partners. Coinbase has not announced a plan comparable to Payward's proposed use of its exchange and clearinghouse registrations to offer perpetual futures to U.S. clients on Hyperliquid.