Retail investors can enjoy a new derivative product by Coinbase from this Monday

Crypto exchange giant Coinbase has announced the launch of its first listed crypto derivative product Nano Bitcoin futures (BIT). The new product will be available to retail investors to trade from this Monday. 

As per the announcement, BIT will be listed on the CFTC-regulated futures exchange. The head of Coinbase Derivatives Exchange, Boris Ilyevsky, revealed that each BIT futures contract would equal 1/100th of a Bitcoin.

Beginning with retail brokers EdgeClear, Ironbeam, NinjaTrader, Optimus Futures, Stage 5, and Tradovate, the derivatives product will be accessible for trading through a number of broker intermediaries. Additionally, it is accessible to retail players through the clearing companies ABN AMRO, ADMIS, Advantage Futures, ED&F Man, Ironbeam, and Wedbush.

In order to directly provide margined futures contracts to its clients, Coinbase is now seeking regulatory clearance on its own futures commission merchant (FCM) license. Ilyevsky said:

“It’s more important than ever to bring the benefits of futures to a broader market so that all types of traders can access regulated U.S. crypto derivatives markets to express their views or hedge their underlying crypto assets.”

Futures have gained popularity among traders for a number of reasons, including non-stop trading, a minimal upfront investment need, leverage, and the simplicity of going long and short.

Service expansion by Coinbase after downsizing

The company went on to add its expansion plans by stating that “additional product development and accessibility will unlock significant growth.” Though the company said that the crypto derivatives market had shown its potential by representing $3 trillion in volume worldwide, Coinbase has fired 18% of its global workforce amid the ongoing crypto winter, as TheCoinRise reported. It has also suspended hiring to manage the market downturn.

The move by Coinbase comes days after rival company Binance US announced zero trading fees for Bitcoin spot pairs from United States investors. The latter’s parent company Binance has also partnered with the legendary football player Cristiano Ronaldo to promote Web3 initiatives and launch NFT collections on its platform.