Coinbase, America’s premier crypto exchange, is set to roll out futures trading contracts for Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on April 1, 2024.
Coinbase’s derivatives arm revealed its plans through letters filed with the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) earlier this month. Coinbase Derivatives will introduce monthly cash-settled and margin futures contracts for these cryptos, employing a self-certification approach under CFTC Regulation 40.2(a).
This initiative marks a significant step for Dogecoin, originally conceived as a meme but now a prominent player among memecoins. Despite its humorous origins, Dogecoin has garnered substantial market capitalization over time, earning a place among the top cryptocurrencies by market value.
Coinbase emphasized Dogecoin’s transformation from a meme to a fundamental part of the crypto landscape, citing its enduring popularity and robust community support.
The move by Coinbase has raised questions about the classification of these products. Bloomberg analyst James Seyffart pondered whether the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) would classify them as commodities or securities futures. Given that Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Bitcoin Cash are derivatives of Bitcoin, which the SEC has classified as a commodity, categorizing these contracts as securities could be challenging.
Seyffart suggested that Coinbase’s choice of DOGE, LTC, and BCH for futures trading might be influenced by their close association with Bitcoin and the difficulty in classifying them as securities, particularly following the SEC’s approvals of spot BTC exchange-traded funds.
As Coinbase gears up for the launch of these futures contracts, the crypto market eagerly anticipates how these offerings will shape the trading landscape for these popular digital assets.
