Coinbase Launches UK Derivatives Trading with 50x Leverage

Coinbase Launches Derivatives Trading for UK Professionals

Coinbase announced Tuesday it is opening derivatives trading to professional investors in the United Kingdom, offering more than 170 contracts across cryptocurrency, commodities, equities, and foreign exchange, with leverage up to 50 times.

The new offering includes three contract types, according to a post by Keith Grose, Coinbase’s UK and international vice president. Perpetual contracts will cover the full range of over 170 assets, have no expiry date, trade 24/7, and offer leverage up to 50x.

Dated futures will settle on fixed dates, incorporate the cost of carry into the entry price rather than charging funding rates, and have a leverage cap of 20x. Crypto options, limited to crypto underlyings, will include calls and puts for both single and multi-leg strategies, with payoff diagrams integrated into the trading interface.

Access will be restricted to investors classified as professional clients, and Coinbase indicated the rollout will be phased. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has prohibited the sale of crypto derivatives to UK retail consumers since 2021, forcing individual traders to rely on offshore platforms.

This expansion is supported by an investment services authorization, commonly known as a MiFID license, which Coinbase obtained from the FCA on July 7. This license permits the company to offer instruments beyond just cryptocurrencies. In March, Coinbase had already introduced crypto futures to 26 European countries under MiFID II regulations, with leverage up to 10 times.

Grose positioned the launch as a key component of the company’s “Everything Exchange” strategy, which aims to consolidate cryptocurrency, stocks, derivatives, and prediction markets within a single application. Coinbase highlighted that global crypto derivatives volume is typically 4.4 times that of spot markets, a disparity that it argues leaves professional traders dependent on unregulated venues.

The derivatives offering follows closely on other recent expansions. Just five days prior, Coinbase introduced 24/5 U.S. stock trading to its UK users, covering nearly 4,000 stocks. Six days before that, the company opened perpetual futures trading to wholesale clients in Australia. Coinbase asserts it is the most comprehensively regulated crypto firm operating in the UK market.

This growth is occurring ahead of the full implementation of the UK’s crypto regulatory framework, which the FCA finalized in June. The mandatory regime is not expected to take effect until October 2027.

The launch also comes at a time of ongoing uncertainty regarding the cryptocurrency sector’s relationship with the UK financial establishment. On Tuesday, Parliament’s Crypto and Digital Assets All-Party Parliamentary Group sent a letter to bank chief executives as part of an inquiry into banking access, following numerous complaints from crypto firms unable to reliably open accounts.