On June 24, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, Coinbase, announced their plans to enter into the realm of cryptocurrency derivatives with the launch of a nano bitcoin futures product (BIT). Coinbase is working with a team of experienced market makers and hedgers who are used to handling regulated futures markets. The new product BIT is connected to 1/100th of a bitcoin on the Coinbase Derivatives Exchange (formerly called FairX).
Coinbase acquired the derivatives exchange Fairx in mid-January 2022, announcing that it will use Fairx’s exchange infrastructure. “This is an important step toward Coinbase ultimately making the derivatives market accessible to our millions of customers through an industry-leading, simplified user experience,” stated Coinbase. While Coinbase Derivatives Exchange will oversee the nano bitcoin futures product, buyers will be able to purchase BIT on June 27 via retail stock brokers.
“We want to combine the capabilities and pricing structure of Coinbase Pro into a single unified Coinbase account that will provide our consumers with the option of an advanced trading experience or the simplicity of the Coinbase consumer app,” Coinbase added.
The CME Group and the FTX-acquired Ledgerx will also sell nano-based crypto futures, so Coinbase will not be the only one providing them. CME Group introduced micro bitcoin and micro ether futures at the end of March, with each product being one-tenth the size of one bitcoin or ether. Investors may engage in bitcoin micro futures contracts via FTX US Derivatives (formerly Ledgerx) with as low as 0.01 BTC.
