Coinbase launches perpetual futures trading for Dogwifhat memecoin
Coinbase International Exchange (CIE) will introduce perpetual futures trading for Solana-based memecoin dogwifhat ($WIF), starting April 25. These open-ended futures contracts can be traded using the USDC stablecoin.
The move was announced in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Thursday as Coinbase expands derivatives offerings to its non-U.S. users.
Initially, this trading feature will be exclusively accessible via the Coinbase Advanced webpage, but mobile trading is set to be introduced soon. This move by Coinbase follows the recent approval by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to allow the crypto exchange to offer perpetual futures for its international clientele.
This announcement follows a slight delay in the launch of another memecoin-based derivative on Coinbase’s platform. Initially, the 1000PEPE-PERP perpetual futures were slated to debut on April 18 but were postponed, as noted by a previous post on X.
Coinbase has been expanding its range of crypto perpetual futures offerings since it received regulatory approval to serve non-U.S. customers in select jurisdictions last year. Despite this progress, the U.S. market has posed greater challenges.
Regulatory hurdles have made it difficult to obtain similar approvals stateside, where American regulators are generally hesitant to approve crypto-based futures that carry higher risks. However, Coinbase did secure a breakthrough last year when it received the nod from the National Futures Association to offer crypto futures trading to a select group of U.S. retail traders via Coinbase Advanced.
The expansion of Coinbase’s perpetual futures offerings comes amidst a surge in derivatives trading volumes, which soared by 86.5% last month to $6.18 trillion.
As more sophisticated investors enter the crypto market, the notice reflects increasing investor interest in trading derivatives, which let traders make bets on the price of cryptocurrencies without the need for actual delivery.
Crypto derivatives allow traders to place leveraged bets on whether digital assets will rise or fall. Such products are mostly banned for retail investors in the US due to investor-protection requirements, AML rules and safeguards against market manipulation.
