Coinbase Skips XRP in New US-Regulated Futures Products

Coinbase recently launched some U.S.-regulated futures products, but bypassed XRP despite its legal clarity, prompting a reaction from Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett.

The company filed to launch the products on March 7 through its Coinbase Derivatives division. Despite introducing these offerings earlier in the month, the cryptocurrency platform neglected to effectively publicize the development, resulting in limited visibility.

Notably, Coinbase filed with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to list futures contracts based on three crypto assets, including Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). 

Coinbase Derivatives LLC quietly filed certifications with CFTC to list US regulated futures for Dogecoin, Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash.

They filed them on March 7 and surprisingly nobody seemed to notice.

Futures are set to start trading on April 1 if there are no objections from… pic.twitter.com/DYbWjuS6G2

— Summers (@SummersThings) March 20, 2024

Subsequently, the agency has now listed contracts for the three assets on its official platform. Following the move, the contracts for Coinbase’s crypto products listed on the CFTC website have increased to seven, including contracts based on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

Coinbase revealed in the filing that it plans to begin trading the products on its exchange platform from April 1. Should the futures trading agency give the green light, the platform would proceed with these plans in the next eleven days.

Absence of XRP Sparks Questions

However, the absence of XRP futures contracts has attracted attention from industry commentators, given XRP’s unique position as the only cryptocurrency to have undergone a legal trial and emerge as a non-security. 

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XRP’s position had prompted the belief that platforms such as Coinbase would now confidently list the asset when filing for these futures offerings. Recall that Coinbase immediately relisted XRP after the pivotal ruling last July. The firm also launched XRP perpetual futures trading for its clients outside the U.S.

As a result, the decision to not include XRP futures contracts in its recent filings with the U.S. CFTC has sparked questions. In a post on X, Fox Business journalist Eleanor Terrett noted the absence of the asset. “But no XRP futures,” she remarked. 

But no $XRP futures ???? https://t.co/VSis36pW2R

— Eleanor Terrett (@EleanorTerrett) March 20, 2024

Besides Coinbase, other leading American firms have not received the July 13 verdict as favorably as the XRP community expects. For instance, no U.S. asset management giant has filed to launch a spot XRP ETF despite calls from investors in the community.

However, filings for spot Ethereum ETFs have emerged from asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity. Interestingly, the U.S. SEC is now looking to identify Ethereum as a security, reducing the chances of an approval of a spot Ethereum ETF.