Greg Tusar, head of institutional product at Coinbase, said derivatives are the biggest focus for the crypto financial services firm and it aims to win share from CME Group, which has listed crypto derivatives contracts. He took part in a fireside chat at the Morgan Stanley US Financials Conference in New York on 10 June 2025.

Tusar explained that there are two main parts of the institutional business – Markets and Coinbase Prime. In the U.S. retail users have access to futures trading via Coinbase Financial Markets and Coinbase Derivatives Exchange (CDE). Outside the U.S., the firm’s International Exchange offers spot and perpetual futures. In addition, in May this year Coinbase agreed to acquire Dubai-based Deribit, the crypto options exchange, for approximately $2.9bn.

He said: “Derivatives has been and remains our biggest focus and winning listed CME Group share is important for us. “

On 9 May 2025 the firm said in a blog that it had launched 24/7 trading for retail and institutional-sized bitcoin and ethereum futures on CDE, an exchange regulated by the Commodities and Futures Trading Commission.

“This was the first time in the history of futures in the U.S. that we have had a product that trades 24/7 on a CFTC-regulated exchange,” added Tusar.

Nodal Clear is the clearing house for CDE, which lists both crypto and some non-crypto futures. Virtu Financial is acting as a market maker and ABN Amro, Wedbush Securities  and Coinbase Financial Markets are  futures commission merchants. CDE has previously focussed on active retail traders and has more than 100,000 users.

“In the coming year, we are going to focus on our larger contracts that would compete more directly with the CME’s bitcoin contracts in the U.S.,” said Tusar.

Over 1.1 million contracts and ~$580 million in notional volume have traded during extended hours since we launched 24×7 futures trading.

Bitcoin and ether futures are now available to trade 24×7, while XRP and Solana futures will move to 24×7 trading on June 13. pic.twitter.com/T45PQUSGMo

— Coinbase Institutional 🛡️ (@CoinbaseInsto) June 2, 2025

Coinbase’s Bermuda-based International Exchange offers perpetual futures outside the U.S. to both retail and institutions. Perpetual contracts allow traders to buy or sell  crypto at a predetermined price with leverage, without an expiration date and with periodic funding rate payments to maintain their position. International Exchange has between 5% and 10% market share on any given day, according to Tusar, and has crossed $1bn in open interest.

CDE is working to introduce perpetual-style futures to the U.S. in a regulated environment and Tusar said they are slated to launch in the second half of this year.

Deribit acquisition

Tusar continued that the Deribit acquisition will initially add options for non-US customers. Deribit facilitated over $1 trillion in trading volume in 2024 across key markets outside the U.S., with strong demand from institutional and advanced traders, according to Coinbase.

“Deribit is the largest options provider in crypto with north of $35 bn in open interest, which is the largest open interest across all derivative platforms in crypto,” added Tusar. “Options round out our product portfolio nicely as that was a gap for us.”

Excited to acquire @DeribitOfficial! This makes Coinbase the #1 crypto derivatives platform by open interest and options volume.

Their strength in options complements our strength in spot and futures. https://t.co/khpa6dTpN8

— Brian Armstrong (@brian_armstrong) May 8, 2025

📰 Coinbase’s acquisition of Deribit marks the largest M&A deal in crypto history — and one of the most consequential. It’s a striking example of industry consolidation, and a reminder that the infrastructure underpinning digital asset markets is evolving fast.

🔍 Coinbase's… pic.twitter.com/3fEoKJSUqt

— Bakkt (@Bakkt) May 15, 2025

Crypto firm Bakkt said Coinbase’s acquisition of Deribit is the largest M&A deal in crypto history and “one of the most consequential.”  

“Ripple’s acquisition of Hidden Road is another signpost in this new wave of institutional transformation,” added Bakkt. “These moves reflect a sector entering a new phase of maturity, one in which scale and flexibility are prerequisites, not luxuries.”

The deal was described as opportunistic by Tusar, as the founders wanted to sell the exchange. Deribit will also boost Coinbase’s international expansion as they have a large presence in Europe and Dubai.

“This gives a real presence for building products outside the U.S. for active traders, which helps our institutional business,” said Tusar.

He highlighted that the most important aspect of the deal will be the ability to offer cross-margining across Coinbase’s whole portfolio including futures.

“The ability to cross-margin across all those things is going to be a real game changer,” added Tusar. “The ability to trade in each of those different pools in a very capital efficient way will set us apart and is what I’m most excited about.”

The ability to bring options to the U.S also represents a big opportunity, according to Tusar, but needs CFTC approval.

Consultancy Crisil Coalition Greenwich said in a report: “We expect the product range on derivatives exchanges to continue to expand with a particular focus on options markets, including options on ETFs. Across products, traders will continue to prioritize access to the deepest liquidity available, as well as manageable counterparty risk, institutional-grade custody and faster execution speeds.”

Coinbase Prime

The other part of the institutional business, Coinbase Prime can be compared to a brokerage as it offers multi-venue trading, smart routing, algorithms and other mechanisms that are used to buy traditional securities. Tusar argued that this has enabled Coinbase to participate in some of the largest purchases of bitcoin, for example, as it is one of the largest custodians in the space.

Coinbase has a regulated custodian which also offers staking and financing through a prime brokerage offering. The firm also has an on-chain wallet solution, so as funds move to being able to trade on-chain, Coinbase can offer an end-to-end platform.

“We think that is one of the most unique things about Coinbase,” said Tusar. “We have competitors in custody, or a competitor who is good at trading, but we have integrated everything which is better from an operational perspective.”

He claimed that more competition, such as banks being able to custody crypto, will be good for the overall ecosystem. However, Coinbase will be able to continue to differentiate itself by being exclusively focused on crypto, and understanding every chain and every asset at a “very molecular” level.

Crisil Coalition Greenwich said: “The emergence of full-stack prime brokerage operations will provide institutional traders with a more comprehensive and coordinated approach to trading, custody, settlement, and staking. As the crypto market continues to evolve, it is likely to become an increasingly attractive and viable option for institutional traders, offering a more sophisticated and robust landscape for investment and growth.”

Tusar continued that Coinbase’s goal is to empower other firms that want to come into the space by providing them with the infrastructure that it has built. Coinbase provides crypto-as-a-service to over 200 banks, brokers and fintechs.

Read how Crypto-as-a-Service can power your business:https://t.co/mAg14GP1FX

— Coinbase Institutional 🛡️ (@CoinbaseInsto) June 10, 2025

Coinbase said in a blog that as client demand and regulatory clarity accelerate, more firms are entering the market to build their own crypto offerings.

“To meet this moment, we’re unifying and expanding our infrastructure and markets platform under a new offering: Coinbase Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS),” said the blog. “Whether institutions are launching a crypto brokerage, custodian, or integrating stablecoin payments, Coinbase’s CaaS platform delivers the critical tools to help them build scalable products with uncompromising security, while accelerating time to market.”

For example, Webull Pay is using Coinbase CaaS platform for institutional-grade custody, advanced trading, USDC stablecoin and staking access. Coinbase’s CaaS undertaking builds on its infrastructure integration with BlackRock’s Aladdin, which enables Aladdin clients, including the iShares crypto ETFs, to support the entire crypto transaction lifecycle.

“Scale with a single matching engine that is fast and with all the liquidity in one place, and importantly, the ability to finance these things will win,” said Tusar. “Our goal is to be the scale player in crypto.”