The US CFTC Classifies Crypto Contracts as Foreign Futures and Issues a No-Action Letter for Coinbase's Related Business

According to Odaily, the Market Participants Division of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) today issued an Interpretive Letter and a "No-Action Letter" in response to an application from Coinbase Financial Markets. This allows it to offer certain digital commodity derivatives trading services through its affiliated overseas trading platform, Deribit. CFTC staff confirmed that, based on the approval framework for the Kalshi BTCPERP contract dated May 29, 2026, related crypto perpetual contracts can be classified as "foreign futures" under Regulation 30.1.

At the same time, provided certain conditions are met, the CFTC Market Participants Division stated it does not recommend taking enforcement action against Coinbase Financial Markets. This permits it to transfer digital commodities and stablecoins held by its customers as margin to its affiliated overseas broker-dealer, to support foreign futures and options positions, even if that overseas broker-dealer has the ability to rehypothecate the assets.

Analysts believe that this statement further clarifies the classification pathway for crypto perpetual contracts within the U.S. regulatory framework and provides institutional space for compliant entities to access derivatives trading through overseas liquidity markets.