Coinbase Doubles Down: Launches U.S. Perpetual Futures as CEO Reveals Weekly Bitcoin Buys

Wall Street meets crypto—again. Coinbase just flipped the switch on perpetual futures trading for U.S. clients, a move that’ll have degens and institutional traders alike licking their chops. No more hopping through offshore hoops to chase leverage.

Meanwhile, CEO Brian Armstrong’s dropping golden nuggets: The exchange is stacking BTC weekly like it’s going out of style. Talk about putting your money where your mouth is—even if the SEC’s still giving them side-eye.

Perpetuals 101: These are the derivative contracts that never expire, letting traders bet on crypto prices with up to 20x leverage (or get liquidated trying). Coinbase’s version? Regulated. Boring? Maybe. Safer? Definitely.

The kicker? This rollout screams institutional adoption. When a publicly traded company starts offering complex crypto derivatives while simultaneously hoarding Bitcoin, it’s not hedging—it’s betting the farm. Either that, or they know something the rest of us don’t. (Spoiler: They always do.)

One cynical footnote: Nothing says 'financial innovation' like repackaging the same risky bets with a compliance wrapper. But hey—at least the suits can sleep at night.

Separately, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said the company also accumulates bitcoin on a regular basis as an investment.

"We're buying more bitcoin every week. Long Bitcoin," Armstrong said in a Thursday X post in response to David Bailey, CEO of the bitcoin treasury firm Nakamoto Holdings.

This comes after Coinbase CFO Alesia Haas revealed in the first quarter 2025 earnings call that the firm purchased $150 million in crypto, predominantly bitcoin. Coinbase holds 9,257 BTC worth nearly $1 billion on its corporate balance sheet and is one of the top 10 publicly-listed holders of the asset, according to the latest data compiled by BitcoinTreasuries.net.