CFTC Registers Coinbase Clearing for Derivatives

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission registered Coinbase Clearing LLC on September 28 to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps, giving Coinbase an in-house clearing operation for those products. Coinbase says it plans to use USDC as collateral and support settlement around the clock, but has not announced which contract will clear first or when the service will begin. The registration is limited to fully collateralized products. It does not authorize Coinbase Clearing to handle the company’s margined derivatives, Coinbase said. External clearing partners will continue supporting those products, as well as planned U.S. single-stock perpetual contracts, which remain subject to separate regulatory processes. Coinbase described the registration as completing its regulated U.S. derivatives structure across exchange, brokerage and clearing. Its existing businesses include Coinbase Derivatives, which operates as a designated contract market, and Coinbase Financial Markets, its futures commission merchant. Before the new registration, Coinbase Derivatives relied on an outside provider for clearing, according to the company’s account.