Coinbase just made its most ambitious regulatory play yet. The exchange submitted a detailed comment letter to both the CFTC and SEC on August 24-25, proposing a classification framework that would allow it to offer equity perpetual derivatives to US traders through its already-registered derivatives arm.
The core argument is elegant in its simplicity: treat equity perpetuals as “security futures” under the Commodity Exchange Act, and the existing regulatory plumbing handles the rest. CFTC-registered designated contract markets, like Coinbase Derivatives, could then offer these products through a streamlined notice registration with the SEC. No new regulatory category needed.
The classification gambit
The letter, signed by Coinbase’s Scott Bauguess and Julia Hueckel, responds to a joint CFTC-SEC Request for Comment on how to properly define “swap” and “security-based swap.” These definitions might sound like bureaucratic trivia, but they determine which regulator has jurisdiction over which product, and therefore which venues can legally list them.
Coinbase’s proposed answer cuts through years of jurisdictional ambiguity. By fitting equity perpetuals into the existing “security futures” box, the framework creates a two-way street. CFTC-registered contract markets could list these products via notice registration with the SEC. National securities exchanges could do the reverse, registering with the CFTC. Both regulators maintain oversight, and neither has to invent new rules from scratch.
