Coinbase has launched a CFTC-approved perpetual futures product for Bitcoin and Ethereum, marking a turning point for regulated digital asset derivatives in the US. The product, which began trading on 21 July 2025, introduces a new structure compliant with regulatory expectations: it expires every five years while maintaining the key characteristics of a perpetual product. Additionally, the funding rate is settled twice daily—every twelve hours—unlike the standard eight-hour cycle used by most platforms.
This expansion of regulated digital asset derivatives is backed by insights from Devexperts, a trading technology provider that has closely tracked the evolution of the perpetual futures market. Their research suggests these products are becoming central to how digital assets are traded globally.
Coinbase aims to reclaim the trading activity that US investors have long conducted on offshore or decentralised exchanges.
The company cited reports showing that derivatives now account for up to 90% of digital asset market volumes. Bitnominal also entered the scene earlier this year, launching the first CFTC-approved bitcoin perpetual futures in April 2025—though those are bitcoin-settled and restricted to institutions.
Understanding perpetual futures
Perpetual futures—or “perps”—are derivatives that allow investors to hold positions indefinitely without owning the underlying asset.
Unlike traditional futures, these contracts don’t require rolling or physical delivery. To ensure alignment with spot market prices, perps use a funding rate mechanism, where periodic payments flow between long and short traders based on market conditions.
These payments serve to rebalance supply and demand when futures prices deviate from spot values. Settlement intervals typically range from every eight to twelve hours, depending on the trading venue.
Comparing perps and CFDs
Although both perpetual futures and contracts for difference (CFDs) offer leveraged exposure without requiring ownership of the underlying asset, they differ in key areas. Perps are traded on exchanges, where all participants interact through a single, central contract. CFDs, however, are OTC instruments executed through brokers who may act as counterparties to client positions.
In regulatory terms, this distinction has proven crucial. CFDs have struggled to gain approval in markets like the US due to their OTC structure, while perps—when structured appropriately—have gained traction through CFTC oversight.
Perp trading volumes now outpace spot markets
Devexperts and CoinGecko both highlight the overwhelming growth of perp trading. According to CoinGecko’s State of Crypto Perpetuals 2024 report, the top 10 centralised exchanges saw volumes surge from $28.8tn in 2023 to $58.5tn in 2024.
Decentralised platforms followed suit, with volumes reaching $1.5tn in 2024—a 138% year-on-year increase.
Meanwhile, Grayscale data reported by Unchained revealed that in the first half of 2025, $10.17tn in digital asset perps were traded across both centralised and decentralised exchanges. Spot markets, by comparison, handled only $3.06tn during the same period.
What’s fuelling this market shift?
Several factors are driving the surge in perpetual futures. They offer affordable, flexible exposure to digital assets and appeal particularly to traders seeking leverage without direct ownership. Perps also bypass the regulatory challenges that plague OTC products like CFDs in the US, making them a viable entry point for retail traders.
With CFTC-approved products now on the rise, and players like Coinbase actively innovating in this space, many believe the US market is on the cusp of a major shift toward regulated, exchange-traded digital asset derivatives
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