Coinbase Gets CFTC Approval For Its Own USDC-Native Clearinghouse

TL;DR Coinbase Clearing LLC has been registered by the CFTC as a Derivatives Clearing Organization. The approval allows it to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps. Coinbase says the new clearinghouse will use USDC collateral and support 24/7 settlement. Coinbase has filled in the final piece of a U.S. derivatives stack it has been building for years. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission registered Coinbase Clearing LLC as a Derivatives Clearing Organization on September 28, allowing the company to operate its own regulated clearinghouse for fully collateralized derivatives. That puts clearing alongside Coinbase’s existing futures exchange and futures commission merchant operations. Coinbase Now Controls More Of The Derivatives Plumbing Clearing is the part of a derivatives market that sits between trades and makes sure obligations are settled. Until now, Coinbase could offer regulated derivatives through its exchange and brokerage infrastructure, but the clearing layer remained separate. Coinbase Clearing changes that. The CFTC registration allows the entity to clear fully collateralized futures, options on futures and swaps. The approval does not co...