The Facts
Despite its ongoing legal battles with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Coinbase Global announced Wednesday that it has received regulatory approval from the National Futures Association to offer cryptocurrency futures to US customers.
Coinbase, which first applied to operate as such in 2021, can now allow eligible US customers to access regulated derivative products through Coinbase Financial Markets, which is regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Association.
The Spin
Narrative A
Coinbase is winning its regulatory battle against the SEC's efforts to overstep its bounds. The SEC doesn’t have the jurisdiction to oversee and regulate the entire cryptocurrency industry, and it can't just declare any asset as a security. Regulation is extremely important for the still-young and ever-evolving crypto space, and the SEC cannot overstep Congress and other agencies as the chief regulator. The National Futures Association has recognized this, and soon others will follow.
Narrative B
Despite all the whining from the crypto community about SEC regulation and lawsuits, there has yet to be a satisfactory answer to the main question that must be answered: how are crypto assets anything but securities? When analyzing Coinbase’s business, it functions just as any other securities exchange — allowing customers to trade financial assets, now including futures, to earn a profit. Crypto assets are securities, and the SEC has the authority to regulate crypto exchanges like Coinbase.
