Crypto exchange Coinbase believes Dogecoin’s (DOGE) “enduring popularity” suggests it has transcended its meme origins to become a staple in the cryptocurrency industry — and is now planning to launch futures trading products for the cryptocurrency.
In three separate letters to the United States Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on March 7, Coinbase Derivatives announced its plans to launch cash-settled futures contract products for r Dogecoin, Litecoin (LTC), and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as soon as April 1.
Notably, the letters said that Coinbase Dervitiatives could list the futures contracts on its platform before receiving any official approval from the CFTC.
Coinbase explained that it would invoke the “self-certification” method to launch the futures contracts, so long as they followed the regulatory guidelines laid out by the agency.
“Coinbase Derivatives [...] hereby submits for self-certification its initial listing of the Dogecoin Futures contract to be offered for trading on the Exchange on or after April 1, 2024,” read the letter concerning the Dogecoin futures product.
Coinbase justified its announcement for listing Dogecoin by claiming that the memecoin had transcended its origin as merely a joke, and had risen to become a foundational element of the crypto industry.
“Dogecoin's enduring popularity and the active community support suggest that it has transcended its origins as a meme to become a staple of the cryptocurrency world.”
The price of Dogecoin is currently up 17% on the day and is trading for $0.15 at the time of publication, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
While several market commentators across social media seemed puzzled by the move, analysts hinted that the move to list futures contracts could have been a calculated move by Coinbase to force the hand of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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In a March 20 post to X, Bloomberg ETF analyst James Seyffart noted that the filings may have been a strategic play to force the SEC from classifying any crypto assets that were based on the same proof-of-work consensus mechanism as Bitcoin from being declared a “security.”
“Wonder if the SEC objects to these being classified ‘commodities futures' vs 'securities futures,’” wrote Seyffart. “These [are all based on] Bitcoin so ‘these are securities’ claims would be hard to make after spot Bitcoin ETF approvals.”
In 2022, Coinbase acquired the CFTC-regulated FairX derivatives exchange to roll out crypto derivatives trading for its customers in the United States.
Coinbase stated at the time: “We want to make the derivatives market more approachable for our millions of retail customers.”
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