US just legalized crypto perpetual futures — Coinbase is first in line to cash in
The main U.S. derivatives regulator just gave the green light for crypto perpetual futures contracts to trade on American soil for the first time. Coinbase and Kalshi are first in line to offer these products, which have historically been one of the most popular — and profitable — crypto trading instruments worldwide.
Idea
Perpetual futures are the single most-traded crypto product globally, but until now they've only existed on offshore exchanges like Binance. Bringing them onshore to regulated U.S. platforms is a seismic shift — it opens a massive new revenue stream for Coinbase that didn't exist yesterday. The CFTC specifically named Coinbase in its approval, giving the company a first-mover advantage over rivals. When exchanges add high-demand new products, trading volume and fee income tend to ramp quickly, and the stock often re-rates higher as analysts build the new revenue into their models. This is a structural catalyst, not a one-day headline.