Coinbase has submitted a regulatory filing seeking approval to offer single-stock perpetual futures tied to some of the market's most closely watched companies, including Apple, Tesla and Nvidia, expanding its push into derivatives products for American traders.
What Coinbase Is Proposing
The exchange is asking the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to greenlight a new class of contracts that would give US traders leveraged exposure to individual equities without requiring them to own the underlying shares. The products would track the price movements of major public companies, allowing users to speculate on their direction using borrowed capital.
The proposed contracts would trade on a 24/5 basis, meaning traders could act on positions around the clock during the trading week rather than being confined to traditional stock market hours. That structure mirrors the always-on nature of crypto markets, which Coinbase has built its business around.
Single-stock perpetuals would let traders bet on names like Apple and Nvidia without ever holding a share.
Why It Matters
Perpetual futures have become a dominant instrument in crypto trading, prized for their flexibility and the absence of a fixed expiration date. Bringing that format to individual equities represents a notable convergence of traditional finance and digital-asset infrastructure, blurring the line between stock trading and crypto derivatives.
For Coinbase, the move signals an ambition to broaden its offerings beyond tokens and into a wider range of leveraged financial products for the US market. The company has increasingly focused on derivatives as a growth avenue amid a more constructive regulatory climate.
Key elements of the filing include:
- Leveraged exposure to individual stocks such as Apple, Tesla and Nvidia
- Contracts that do not require ownership of the underlying shares
- A 24/5 trading window for US-based users
- A request for CFTC approval before any launch
Whether regulators sign off will determine how quickly, if at all, the products reach traders. Approval would mark a significant step in extending crypto-style derivatives into the equities arena.