A proposed rule change pushing for some crypto firms to register as exchanges could be abandoned under a new directive from the acting chairman of the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
During a March 10 speech at the Washington Conference of the Institute of International Bankers, acting SEC Chairman Mark Uyedasaid he had “asked SEC staff for options on abandoning” part of the proposed changes that would expand regulation of alternative trading systems (ATSs) to include crypto firms.
“In light of the significant negative public comment received on the definition of exchange with respect to crypto, I have asked SEC staff for options on abandoning that part of the proposal,” he said.
“In my view, it was a mistake for the commission to link together regulation of the Treasury markets with a heavy-handed attempt to tamp down the crypto market.”
Uyeda says the rule was initially crafted in 2020 under former SEC Chairman Jay Clayton to establish more straightforward rules for alternative trading systems; the guidance was intended to mainly impact US Treasury market participants.
However, when it fell to former SEC Chair Gary Gensler to implement the rule, he took a “very different direction” by expanding the list beyond just ATSs.
“Rather than focusing on the narrow issues relating to Government Securities ATSs, a new iteration of the rule was proposed in 2022 that would redefine the regulatory definition of an exchange,” Uyeda said.
“The new definition of the term exchange included communications protocols without clearly defining what that term meant. Effectively, the vastly expanded definition of an exchange would have picked up various protocols used with respect to crypto assets,” he added.
He brought upward of 100 regulatory actions against firms from 2021 until his resignation on Jan. 20, the same day as Donald Trump started his second term as US president. Trump had promised to fire Gensler if elected.
After Genlers’ resignation, the SEC has since taken a new friendlier approach toward crypto. A growing number of firms facing legal action from the regulator have had their cases dismissed, including crypto exchange Gemini on Feb. 26, Kraken on March 3 and crypto trading firm Cumberland DRW on March 4.
Meanwhile, the agency has also launched a crypto task force dedicated to developing a framework for digital assets led by crypto-friendly Commissioner Hester Peirce.
Bitcoin miner CleanSpark will join an important benchmark for US small-cap stocks, underscoring the company’s recent string of profitability despite industry volatility following the April 2024 halving.
Beginning March 24, CleanSpark’s stock will be included in the S&P SmallCap 600 Index. As the name implies, the index measures the performance of small US companies that meet specific liquidity and stability criteria.
As of March 2025, the index’s constituents must have a market capitalization of between $1.1 billion and $7.4 billion, maintain a public float of at least 10% of shares outstanding, and have positive trailing earnings for four consecutive quarters.
CleanSpark CEO Zach Bradford said the company’s inclusion in the small-cap index demonstrates “the value of being a pure play, vertically integrated Bitcoin mining company,” which makes “exposure to our model more broadly available.”
CleanSpark’s profits surged to $241.7 million, or $0.85 per share, in the final quarter of 2024, up from just $25.9 million a year earlier. Company-wide revenues jumped 120% on a year-over-year basis to $162.3 million.
In February, the company further bolstered its Bitcoin (BTC) stockpile by 6% and now holds 11,177 BTC on its books. Only four other publicly traded companies own more Bitcoin.
Bitcoin miners have seen their revenues decline since the April 2024 halving event, forcing several industry players to diversify their business models. Several are pivoting toward artificial intelligence data centers, which can generate higher revenue than traditional mining.
In September, Hive Digital executives Frank Holmes and Aydin Kilic told Cointelegraph that repurposing Nvidia GPUs for AI tasks could generate up to $2.50 per hour in revenues, up from just 0.$12 per hour for crypto mining.
For this reason, “institutions are much more interested in us with our AI than Bitcoin,” Holmes said.
Bitcoin miners are increasingly turning toward AI applications to boost revenues. Source: VanEck
Other mining companies are turning to mergers and acquisitions to reduce mining costs and increase hashrate, according to an August report by JPMorgan. The Wall Street bank singled out companies like Riot Platforms and CleanSaprk for increasing their M&A activity in the post-halving environment.
Meanwhile, “Capital-constrained miners like IREN and [Cipher] focused on securing greenfield opportunities, which require less immediate capital,” JPMorgan said.
Mark Carney, a Canadian economist and now Prime Minister-designate, is already under the microscope for his previous remarks regarding cryptocurrency.
Carney, who replaced former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, took a measured and critical approach to cryptocurrencies, namely Bitcoin (BTC), in a 2018 speech he made at the Bank of England. He also shared concerns over private stablecoins and supported the idea of a central bank currency (CBDC) — a concept many crypto purists regard as antithetical to cryptocurrencies.
At the same time, Carney has said in his platform for the upcoming 2025 federal elections that he wants to make Canada a leader in emerging technologies, including “AI, tech, and digital industries.”
Carney’s previous statements, along with the US trade war on its former trading partners, have raised questions over the Prime Minister-designate’s economic platform and what part, if any, crypto will play.
Bitcoin a “poor store of value”
While serving as governor of the Bank of England, Carney criticized the seminal cryptocurrency Bitcoin as being insufficient in fulfilling all three of the functions of a currency: a store of value, a medium of exchange and a unit of account.
Functions of money. Source: Bank of England
Addressing the question “How well do cryptocurrencies fulfill the roles of money?” he said, “The long, charitable answer is that cryptocurrencies act as money, at best, only for some people and to a limited extent, and even then only in parallel with the traditional currencies of the users.”
“The short answer is they are failing.”
He also shared his concern over private stablecoins in the 2021 Andrew Crockett Memorial lecture. Carney stated that private stablecoins need a regulatory model with “equivalent protections to those for commercial bank money,” like liquidity requirements, central bank eligibility and means to compensate depositors.
He also stated that a system that contains multiple competing stablecoins can “fragment the liquidity of the monetary system and to detract from the role of money as a coordination device.”
Carney contended that a central bank digital currency (CBDC), particularly a retail CBDC with API access to regulated, private firms — could prevent such fragmentation from happening, in addition to more common pro-CBDC arguments like expedited settlement times.
Carney calls for crypto regulation, not to stifle innovation
In a Bloomberg interview in 2018, Carney said that he wanted to bring the cryptocurrency space up to standard with the rest of the financial industry. He said at the time that there was “lots of temptation” for market manipulation, fraud and other misconduct on crypto exchanges.
“The best of the cryptocurrencies, I would suggest, will gravitate to the best of the exchanges if they’re regulated,” he said.
Carney further claimed that it’s a good thing if some cryptocurrencies “fall by the wayside” with regulation. “It is a privilege to be part of the financial system, to be connected to the financial system. And responsibilities come with those privileges,” he said.
Despite his more skeptical comments toward cryptocurrencies, Carney said in his 2018 speech that policymakers should be careful not to stifle innovation.
He said that the “underlying technologies are exciting” and that lawmakers shouldn’t restrain solutions that can “improve financial stability; support more innovative, efficient and reliable payment services as well as have wider applications.”
Carney is also supportive of implementing other emerging technologies in government administration and making Canada more competitive in tech. His platform aims to reduce inefficiencies with AI and machine learning and “build a highly competitive, technology-enabled public service.”
Canada election looms against pro-crypto candidate
The Canadian federal elections are slated to happen no later than Oct. 20, 2025, and could be called even earlier.
Carney will face Conservative frontrunner Pierre Poilievre, who himself has made a number of pro-crypto statements. In 2022, he posted on X that he wanted to make Canada a blockchain hub and “expand choice, lower costs of financial products, [and] create thousands of jobs.”
During the Conservative Party’s leadership election, he said that cryptocurrencies would let Canadians “take control” of their money.
Still, observers of the Canadian crypto industry and Canadian politics have told Cointelegraph that crypto is unlikely to be a major factor in the upcoming elections, unlike its neighbor to the south.
Morva Rohani, executive director of the Canadian Web3 Council nonprofit trade association, told Cointelegraph, “The reality is that most Canadians are either indifferent or skeptical about crypto, and larger issues like the affordability crisis, housing, inflation and immigration dominate the political conversation.”
Added to those economic concerns is the trade war with the US, which started when President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China — three of his country’s major trading partners.
Trudeau’s response to Trump’s tariff threats has seen the Liberals close their gap in the polls, which earlier this year showed the Conservatives as decisively ahead. Carney’s response to the US’ hostile economic policies may be more of a key factor to victory than his stance on cryptocurrencies.
A California financial regulator says users reported seven new types of crypto and AI scams that it hadn’t seen before through thousands of complaints in 2024.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) said in a March 10 statement that it received 2,668 complaints in 2024 and found seven types of scams they didn’t have on record yet, such as fake Bitcoin (BTC) mining schemes, where fraudsters offer fake investments in mining.
The DFPI also received complaints about fake crypto gaming schemes, where users are encouraged to deposit funds only to have their wallets drained, and fraudsters offering fake jobs that require victims to transfer crypto and provide private information.
Victims also reported the theft of private keys through fake airdrops, fake investment group scams in WhatsApp or Telegram, AI Investment scams offering unusually high returns and losing their crypto after interacting with certain sham websites.
There was also a notable rise in crimeware-as-a-service (CaaS), where experienced hackers and cybercriminals sell their tools and services to less experienced offenders for a price.
DFPI Commissioner KC Mohseni said the regulator is urging caution when interacting with unknown platforms and to “verify website domains to avoid fraudulent imitations, and stay wary of crypto recovery scam sites.”
Through its partnership with the State, the DFPI says it shut down more than 26 fraudulent crypto websites and uncovered $4.6 million in user losses last year.
California DOJ shuts down 42 crypto scam websites
California’s Department of Justice (DOJ) took down 42 crypto scam websites in 2024 that stole $6.5 million from victims, with an average loss per person of $146,306.
In a March 10 statement, the California DOJ said that because international fraudsters often carry out scams, they are difficult to prosecute and arrest.
Common threads among the scam websites were promises of high returns, no contact information, offers of prizes for signing up, and no listings on legitimate crypto industry websites such as CoinMarketCap, the California DOJ said.
The cryptocurrency industry will benefit more from US regulatory clarity than from President Donald Trump’s plan to create a national Bitcoin (BTC) reserve, several cryptocurrency executives told Cointelegraph.
Meanwhile, they are still waiting for the White House to provide detailed guidance on issues like securities regulation and taxation, the executives said.
“Markets expect a roadmap for innovation and clear guidelines on stablecoins, institutional adoption and taxation,” Max Giammario, CEO of Web3 artificial intelligence startup Kindred, told Cointelegraph.
“Instead, the vague rhetoric and lack of immediate action only deepened uncertainty.”
Trump signed a crypto executive order on March 6. Source: Margo Martin
Campaign promises
In July, Trump promised to turn America into the “world’s crypto capital” and create a US Bitcoin reserve akin to the nation’s gold stockpile.
Trump’s March 6 executive order delivered on his campaign promise but left traders disappointed.
Instead of instructing the US government to buy crypto, the reserve and the stockpile will initially only comprise digital assets seized by law enforcement.
Bitcoin is down approximately 13% from March 6 as traders react to the news amid a backdrop of macroeconomic uncertainty.
Altcoins have clocked similar losses, with the total crypto market capitalization shedding more than $400 million.
Those losses could worsen without clearer US policy guidance soon, industry executives said.
“If Trump’s administration provides clearer regulations on stablecoins, ETFs and institutional adoption, altcoins could regain momentum,” Alvin Kan, chief operating officer of Bitget Wallet, told Cointelegraph.
“Otherwise, Bitcoin dominance may continue, as it remains the primary macro asset.”
Reasons for optimism
Even so, crypto industry executives remain optimistic, citing Trump’s pro-crypto rhetoric and his appointment of industry-friendly leaders to key US regulatory posts.
“The future of US crypto policy under Trump […] remains to be seen,” Theodore Agranat, Gunzilla Games’ director of Web3, told Cointelegraph.
“However, given the people in all the crucial positions, we should expect to see a stream of ongoing and positive initiatives and news for crypto in general and especially crypto projects in the US.”
Strategy (MSTR) shares have fallen 30% since its executive chairman and former CEO, Michael Saylor, was featured on the cover of Forbes, according to stock price data from Yahoo Finance.
Between Jan. 30 and March 10, Strategy’s shares dropped from $340.09 to $238.25. The tumble includes a 17% decline on March 10 amid the wider sell-off in the tech stock market.
According to Yahoo Finance, the Nasdaq Composite, to which Strategy belongs, has fallen over 4% on March 10. Renewed fears of a recession, with the Atlanta Fed projecting a negative -2.4% gross domestic product growth for the first quarter of 2025, along with the increased rhetoric of trade wars, have sparked fear among investors in the equities market. CNN’s Fear & Greed index sits at “16” for the day, which signifies “Extreme Fear.”
Despite a falling stock price, Strategy remains unwavering in its commitment to a Bitcoin (BTC) strategy. The company announced on the same day plans to raise an additional $21 billion for “general corporate purposes, including the acquisition of Bitcoin and for working capital.” On Feb. 24, Strategy purchased 20,356 Bitcoin for nearly $2 billion.
Although Bitcoin recorded the largest weekly decline in the asset’s history on March 10, Strategy’s Bitcoin investment is still profitable by 18.9%. The company has purchased its BTC at an average cost of $66,423, well below the price of the asset at this time of writing.
While countless entrepreneurs have graced the Forbes cover over the years, some featured individuals have also fallen into controversy after the spotlight. One of those includes former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for a bevy of financial crimes.
Strategy sparks debate, spawns copycats
Strategy’s move to acquire more Bitcoin by issuing stock and using debt has been met with its fair share of proponents and critics in the crypto space. Some believe it is a stroke of genius, a bet on the digital asset’s track record that has caused it to rise from nothing to a market cap of $1.56 trillion in 15 years.
Others have not been so kind, likening the company to a ticking time bomb or a Ponzi. In November, crypto investor Hedgex.eth called it the latter, writing on X that Saylor “will do more damage to Bitcoin than anyone else using endless leverage.” Haralabos Voulgaris wrote on X that “at some point, the next ‘unexpected’ BTC implosion will likely be tied to MSTR.”
Still, Strategy’s move has spawned copycats throughout the business world, with some companies buying Bitcoin for their treasuries and seeing a surge in investor enthusiasm. One of those companies is Metaplanet, whose share price rose 4,800% in 12 months after it announced its BTC buying strategy.
Ether (ETH) price dropped below $2,600 on Feb. 24 and has since struggled to sustain a meaningful recovery. The latest correction toward the $2,000 level triggered over $918 million in leveraged long (bull) liquidations in ETH futures within 15 days, according to CoinGlass data.
Traders now question what needs to happen for ETH to break above $2,500.
Ether/USD (left) vs. total altcoin market cap (right). Source: TradingView / Cointelegraph
Ether has underperformed the altcoin market by 10% during this period, as shown in the chart above.
More concerningly, this decline followed a memecoin frenzy that boosted Ethereum’s main competitor, Solana (SOL). This suggests that additional factors are hampering ETH’s price, and four major issues need to be addressed before Ether can reclaim a bull market.
Ethereum’s upgrades and increased competition
For some, the upcoming Pectra upgrade on the Ethereum network falls short of what is needed to drive a meaningful turnaround, whether it lowers base-layer transaction fees or significantly enhances usability.
Even if the changes do improve the user experience, analysts argue that Ethereum still lacks interoperability across different layer-2 solutions, both in terms of liquidity and user accessibility.
Recent reports of empty blocks on the Ethereum testnet have added to risk perception at a time when investors were already skeptical. Regardless of whether this issue is unrelated to the upcoming upgrade or easily fixable, some traders worry that any potential delay could be perceived negatively by the market.
In essence, fear remains the dominant sentiment, and for this to change, several pressing issues must be resolved.
Critics argue that part of ETH investors’ disappointment stems from the rise of indirect competitors, such as the modular layer-1 Berachain, which focuses on integrating liquidity and governance for decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Berachain has successfully captured over $3 billion in deposits, as measured by total value locked (TVL) on DefiLlama.
Similarly, Hyperliquid, a perpetual futures application hosted on its own blockchain, has surpassed $2.8 billion in open interest, outpacing competitors on the Ethereum network. In many ways, competition is growing beyond the traditional model.
For ETH’s price to regain bullish momentum, traders need reassurance that the Ethereum network offers practical and clear advantages for its projects and users. Ultimately, Ethereum’s focus on decentralization and incremental improvements—whether justified or not—could be stemming demand compared to its competition.
Weak onchain activity and institutional demand
The lack of demand from institutional investors is evident in the spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) flows, which were negative in nine of the last 10 trading days, resulting in $406 million in net withdrawals.
Some analysts suggested that demand could surge following the eventual approval of native staking on Ethereum ETFs, but this theory is now less certain, given that the ETH supply is increasing at 0.7% annually.
Lower demand for blockchain processing has reduced the burn-fee mechanism, causing Ether to become inflationary. As a result, the adjusted native staking reward is now below 2.5%, while deposits in stablecoins yield up to 4.5% in most DeFi projects.
Ultimately, the eventual inclusion of staking in spot ETFs is unlikely to be a game-changer for institutional demand.
Lastly, traders are concerned that the US Securities and Exchange Commission may approve a spot Solana ETF in 2025, creating direct competition for investors who currently only have access to Ether and Bitcoin (BTC) ETF products.
Therefore, for ETH price to reach $2,500 and beyond, investors need clearer evidence that Ethereum offers sustainable advantages beyond its first-mover advantage.
In summary, Ether’s future depends on Ethereum network upgrades, increased network usage, a subsequent decline in supply, and reduced friction for layer-2 interoperability, ensuring that the entire ecosystem benefits from its growth.
This article is for general information purposes and is not intended to be and should not be taken as legal or investment advice. The views, thoughts, and opinions expressed here are the author’s alone and do not necessarily reflect or represent the views and opinions of Cointelegraph.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters on Monday that the mineral deal, sought by President Donald Trump, is “not the main topic on the agenda” for the meeting set with the Ukrainian delegation in Saudi Arabia on Tuesday.
“I wouldn’t prejudge tomorrow about whether or not we have a minerals deal,” he told reporters on board a flight to Saudi Arabia. “It’s an important topic, but it’s not the main topic on the agenda.
“The minerals deal is on the table that’s continuing to be worked on – it’s not part of this conversation, per se,” he said, noting that Tuesday’s meeting in Jeddah can be considered successful even without securing such an agreement.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio speaks with the media on his military airplane as he flies to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, March 10, 2025.(Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
“It’s certainly a deal the president wants to see done, but it doesn’t necessarily have to happen tomorrow,” Rubio added.
The Ukrainian delegation is set to include Andriy Yermak, head of the presidential office, Andrii Sybiha, minister of foreign affairs, Pavlo Palisa, colonel of armed forces of Ukraine and an advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as well as Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, who was not only involved in initial talks with Russia following its February 2022 invasion, but who also survived a poisoning attack after a peace meeting in March that year.
Rubio will meet with the delegation in the city of Jeddah around noon local time on Tuesday.
“The important point in this meeting is to establish clearly their intentions, their desire, as they’ve said publicly now, numerous times, to reach a point where peace is possible,” Rubio said, adding that he will need to be assured that Kyiv is prepared to make some hard decisions, like giving up territory seized by Russia, in order to end the three-year war.
Ukraine’s National Police said seven people are dead and five wounded in a mortar strike east of Kyiv, in Makariv.(National Police of Ukraine)
“Both sides need to come to an understanding,” he said. “The Russians can’t conquer all of Ukraine, and obviously it will be very difficult for Ukraine, in any reasonable time period, to sort of force the Russians back all the way to where they were in 2014. So the only solution to this war is diplomacy and getting them to a table where that’s possible.
“Then we’ll have to determine how far they are from the Russian position, which we don’t know yet either. And then once you understand where both sides truly are, it gives you a sense of how big the divide is and how hard it’s going to be,” Rubio explained. “I’m hoping it’ll be a positive interaction along those lines.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio greets well-wishers upon arrival at King Abdulaziz International Airport in Jeddah on March 10, 2025.(Saul Loeb/Pool/AFP via Getty Images)
Steve Witkoff, special envoy to the Middle East who has increasingly been involved with the talks regarding Ukraine and Russia, told Fox News’ Dana Perino on “America’s Newsroom” Monday morning, that the Trump administration has “gone a long way” to “narrow the differences” when dealing with Moscow and to get it to the negotiating table – though he did not go into detail.
Witkoff suggested relations with Ukraine began to once again improve after Zelenskyy sent Trump a letter in which he apologized for the Oval Office exchange that went sour late last month after he refused to sign a mineral deal and angered the Trump administration – resulting in a series of explosive outbursts on live TV.
While a mineral deal is unlikely to be achieved this week, according to Rubio, he said he hopes that with a successful meeting in Jeddah, he can secure the resumption of aid to Ukraine, though he did not detail if this would include the defensive aid the Trump administration halted, despite Russia’s continued bombardment against Ukrainian targets, or the intelligence sharing which the U.S. also stopped following the Oval Office showdown.
“The pause in aid broadly is something I hope we can resolve,” Rubio said. “I think what happens tomorrow will be key to that.”
Trump and Zelensky were involved in an Oval Office shouting match.(Fox News )
Rubio also said that Russia will see its own consequences if it doesn’t agree to negotiate on ending the war in Ukraine, including additional sanctions.
“It should be clear to everyone that the United States has tools available to also impose costs on the Russian side of this equation,” Rubio said. “But we hope it doesn’t come to that.
“What we’re hoping is that both sides realize that this is not a conflict that can end by military means,” he added.
On Friday, in a posting on the Truth Social platform, Trump threatened Russia with “large scale Banking Sanctions, Sanctions and Tariffs,” until a ceasefire and peace settlement are reached.
Caitlin McFall is a Reporter at Fox News Digital covering Politics, U.S. and World news.
The Texas Senate passed the Bitcoin strategic reserve bill SB-21 on March 6. This followed a debate in which State Senator Charles Schwertner, who introduced the bill, argued that it would help Texas add a valuable and scarce asset to its balance sheet.
Amid fears of Bitcoin (BTC) contending against the US dollar as a global reserve currency, Pro-Bitcoin lawmakers argued that Bitcoin was similar to gold and a hedge against inflation.
If SB-21 is enacted, Texas will be the first state in the US to have a digital asset reserve. However, the governor must still sign the bill before it becomes law.
New York bill aims to protect crypto investors from memecoin rug pulls
New York lawmakers introduced a bill to protect crypto users from memecoin rug pulls, where insiders abandon a project after investors have purchased their token. These scams usually end up with token prices plummeting, causing millions in losses to crypto investors.
On March 5, Assemblymember Clyde Vanel introduced the legislation to establish criminal penalties for offenses that involve “virtual token fraud.” This explicitly targets deceptive practices associated with crypto.
Fideum co-founder and CEO Anastasija Plotnikova told Cointelegraph that scams and rug pulls should be more thoroughly regulated. “In my view, these activities should fall firmly within the jurisdiction of law enforcement agencies,” Plotnikova added.
SEC’s Crypto Task Force to host roundtable on crypto security status
The Crypto Task Force of the US Securities and Exchange Commission will host a series of roundtables to discuss the “security status” of crypto assets, with the first set for March 21.
Crypto Task Force lead Commissioner Hester Peirce said she is looking forward to “drawing the expertise of the public” to develop a workable framework for crypto.
The roundtable series is called the “Spring Sprint Toward Crypto Clarity,” and the first topic of discussion is dubbed “How We Got Here and How We Get Out — Defining Security Status.”
Utah’s Senate passes Bitcoin bill — but scraps key provision
Utah lawmakers passed a Bitcoin bill after removing a section that would have allowed its state treasurer to invest in Bitcoin. While the HB230 bill passed the state Senate, it removed a key reserve clause that would’ve authorized the state treasurer to invest in digital assets with a market cap of over $500 billion.
The clause passed the second reading but was scrapped in the third and final reading. Still, the bill provides citizens basic custody protections, the right to mine, run a node and stake, among other things.
Argentine prosecutor aims to freeze assets in LIBRA memecoin fraud case
Argentine Federal Prosecutor Eduardo Taiano, the lead prosecutor investigating Argentine President Javier Milei’s alleged role in the LIBRA crypto scandal, requested the freezing of almost $110 million in digital assets related to the memecoin case.
Taiano also requested the recovery of Milei’s deleted social posts and detailed records of all LIBRA transactions since its launch. The prosecutor aims to reconstruct the financial operations of Feb. 14 and 15, when the project’s trade volume peaked.
Coinbase announced on March 10 that it plans to offer 24/7 trading for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH) futures to US residents. The exchange is also launching perpetual futures trading with long-date expirations.
According to Coinbase, much of the current crypto derivatives market takes place outside of US borders, with American traders having to navigate fixed hours and expiring contracts, “which can create inefficiencies.”
Futures are a type of derivative that involves creating a contract to buy or sell an asset at a certain price and date. When the futures lack a date for the buying and selling of an asset, they are called perpetual futures, or “perpetuals” for short.
Regulatory uncertainty surrounding crypto perpetual futures has led many exchanges to disallow US residents from trading such products. In its announcement, Coinbase said it is working with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission for clarity. The agency oversees the trading of perpetuals for commodities to ensure these products “meet regulatory requirements.”
The crypto derivatives market reached $1.3 trillion in monthly trading volume in September 2023, according to Alpha Point, significantly exceeding the spot crypto market. For centralized derivatives, non-US markets lead in trading volume.
Coinbase faces competition in US derivatives market
Coinbase’s new services face competition from various companies, including the CME Group, a US derivatives exchange with $6.1 billion in revenue in 2024. In the last quarter of 2024, the CME Group clocked an average daily trading volume of $10 billion for crypto derivatives. However, the derivatives are only available for trading six days a week.
In a February 2024 earnings call, Lynn Martin, CME’s chief financial officer, said crypto derivatives were among the “contracts that we saw the largest increases [in] this year.”
Coinbase may also face competition from rival Robinhood, which announced in January its own plans to offer Bitcoin and Ether futures. Coinbase already offers a crypto derivatives trading option for US residents on Coinbase Financial Markets.
