Coinbase Tries to Catch Up to Foreign-Based Rivals With Move Into Derivatives

Coinbase Tries to Catch Up to Foreign-Based Rivals With Move Into Derivatives
For Coinbase, the largest U.S. cryptocurrency exchange, offering derivatives trading for customers is a necessary step as it seeks to catch up to rival exchanges in a huge and lucrative market.Coinbase announced the acquisition of FairX this week, a CFTC-regulated derivatives exchange, saying that “deep and liquid derivatives markets are essential to the functioning of traditional capital markets,” and noting how “these products are in high demand from investors who seek to effectively manage risk, execute complex trading strategies, and gain exposure to crypto outside of existing spot markets.”Rivals such as FTX, Binance and OKEx have benefitted from their early…