Coinbase International Exchange launches amid SEC crypto crackdown in the US

As the crypto industry faces regulatory challenges in the United States, public crypto exchange Coinbase is pushing its global derivatives platform.

On May 2, Coinbase announced the launch of Coinbase International Exchange (CIE), a new institutional platform designed for trading crypto derivatives.

The CIE will begin trading later this week by listing perpetual futures for Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH). All trades on CIE will be settled in the Coinbase-backed stablecoin USD Coin (USDC), with no fiat onramp required.

Coinbase emphasized that direct access trading on the CIE will be available to institutional investors via application programming interfaces in eligible non-US jurisdictions. “At this time, these products are not offered to retail customers,” Coinbase added.

According to the announcement, a new international crypto platform has been launched with the support of the Bermuda regulator. As previously reported, Coinbase is licensed by the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) by mid-April 2023. A Class F license allowed Coinbase to operate as a digital asset exchange and digital asset derivatives exchange provider and to operate activities such as token sales and token sales. issue.

Coinbase says Bermuda’s regulatory environment is known for its “high levels of transparency, compliance, and cooperation.”

Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory with autonomy under a parliamentary government. Like the UK, where cryptocurrency is now legal, Bermuda is crypto-friendly and has recently become increasingly bullish on the crypto industry.

In late April, Miami International Holdings, the operator of the Bermuda Stock Exchange, purchased the remains of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The company bought FTX’s futures and options exchange, clearinghouse LedgerX, for his $50 million.

Earlier, Bermuda Prime Minister and Finance Minister Edward Burt declared that the government would remain open to cryptocurrencies despite industry failures like FTX. Last year, local officials said Bermuda would maintain its cryptocurrency hub ambitions even as the industry faces a massive bear market in 2022.

Related: ARK Invest spends International Labor Day buying $8 million in Coinbase stock

The news comes as Citigroup, a major U.S. investment bank, has downgraded Coinbase’s shares from buy to neutral or high risk, or lowered its price target from $80 to $65 to high risk. brought in the middle. According to Citigroup analyst Peter Christiansen, regulatory unpredictability in the broader crypto sector is a looming threat to Coinbase.

Citi’s remarks come as Coinbase’s stock price has already plummeted for weeks. Over the past month, Coinbase’s share price has plummeted by more than 20%, from a high of nearly $72 in April to a low of $50 on Monday, May 1st.

As previously reported, Coinbase planned to launch a global cryptocurrency exchange in mid-March 2022. The first reports of Coinbase’s upcoming international cryptocurrency platform came just days before the exchange officially announced that it had received a Wells Notice from U.S. Securities. and Exchange Commission. In response, Coinbase said on April 25, he filed a complaint with the SEC asking regulators to clarify their regulation of the industry.

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