Coinbase Won CFTC Approval This Week — Here's What Else Happened
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN ) has had a busy stretch heading into Wednesday that included a major regulatory approval, an expanded banking partnership and a wave of analyst activity. Coinbase shares are trending higher. What’s driving COIN shares up? CFTC Approval for Coinbase Clearing On Monday, Coinbase won CFTC approval to launch Coinbase Clearing LLC, the first USDC-native derivatives clearinghouse, completing the exchange’s full regulated derivatives stack. The company now holds all three regulated pieces needed for end-to-end derivatives infrastructure: a futures commission merchant through Coinbase Financial Markets, a designated contract market through Coinbase Derivatives, and now a registered derivatives clearing organization through Coinbase Clearing. Together, that lets Coinbase create and settle fully collateralized contracts directly, using USDC as collateral with 24/7 settlement. “Today’s CFTC approval completes Coinbase’s end-to-end derivatives infrastructure, enabling us to bring more regulated derivatives products to market with native USDC collateral and 24/7 settlement,” said Molly Abraham, General Counsel of Coinbase. Expanded Citi Partnership Separately
Coinbase Global Inc. (NASDAQ: COIN ) has had a busy stretch heading into Wednesday that included a major regulatory approval, an expanded banking partnership and a wave of analyst activity. Coinbase shares are trending higher. What’s driving COIN shares up?
CFTC Approval for Coinbase Clearing On Monday, Coinbase won CFTC approval to launch Coinbase Clearing LLC, the first USDC-native derivatives clearinghouse, completing the exchange’s full regulated derivatives stack. The company now holds all three regulated pieces needed for end-to-end derivatives infrastructure: a futures commission merchant through Coinbase Financial Markets, a designated contract market through Coinbase Derivatives, and now a registered derivatives clearing organization through Coinbase Clearing. Together, that lets Coinbase create and settle fully collateralized contracts directly, using USDC as collateral with 24/7 settlement.
“Today’s CFTC approval completes Coinbase’s end-to-end derivatives infrastructure, enabling us to bring more regulated derivatives products to market with native USDC collateral and 24/7 settlement,” said Molly Abraham, General Counsel of Coinbase. Expanded Citi Partnership Separately, Citi and Coinbase announced Monday an expanded collaboration to connect digital and fiat payments for corporations and consumers. Coinbase selected Citi Services’ Virtual Account Wallet to power Coinbase Virtual Accounts, delivering bank-account-like functionality with automatic fiat-to-stablecoin conversion.
Spring by Citi will also enable institutional clients to accept stablecoin payments at checkout, powered by Coinbase Payments, with automatic conversion to fiat settled by Citi as the bank of record. A Wave of Analyst Activity Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reinstated coverage on Coinbase with an Outperform rating and a $237 price target on Monday, calling the exchange the “preeminent franchise” in the space and citing a favorable turn in the crypto cycle. Robert W. Baird also raised its price target to $205 from $130 while maintaining a Neutral rating.
The $32 gap between the two firms’ targets reflects a broader Wall Street divide over whether Coinbase’s newer revenue streams — including derivatives and prediction markets — can offset continued pressure on its core trading fee business, which faced a further squeeze after the company cut trading fees for active traders on Sept. 17. 70, according to data Pro. Image via Shutterstock