USDC first qualified as collateral for US futures, Coinbase joins hands with CFTC to promote its implementation

Crypto asset trading platforms are increasingly adopting blockchain-native assets such as the USDC stablecoin, and tokenized treasuries such as BlackRock’s BUIDL to improve collateral efficiency in the derivatives market.

These instruments combine stability, profitability and compliance, making them attractive to institutional players seeking to optimize capital.

On June 18, Coinbase Derivatives revealed that USDC will be accepted as collateral for margin futures after receiving regulatory approval from the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said: “This will be the first time USDC will be used as collateral in the U.S. futures market, and we will work closely with the CFTC to make this happen.”

The stablecoin integration will be carried out through Coinbase Custody Trust, a qualified custodian regulated by the New York Department of Financial Services.

On the other hand, tokenized government bonds are gradually gaining attention in the derivatives market.

On the same day, digital asset company Securitize announced that BlackRock’s U.S. Dollar Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) is now available as collateral on the Crypto.com and Deribit platforms.

The token represents a short-term income fund backed by cash and U.S. Treasuries, with assets under management currently at $2.9 billion.

By accepting BUIDL as margin, these platforms allow institutional traders to earn returns while using their funds for leveraged trading.

These latest developments underscore this trend and signal a significant shift in market structure towards greater capital efficiency and transparency.

Coinbase noted that assets such as USDC are able to achieve near-instant settlement and are widely accepted on both centralized and decentralized platforms.

Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, expressed a similar sentiment, saying: “Tokenized Treasuries are being actively used on some of the industry’s most advanced trading venues to improve capital efficiency and risk management while still providing a yield.”

At the same time, the moves also follow recommendations made by CFTC Acting Chairwoman Caroline D. Pham in November 2024, who urged firms to explore the use of distributed ledger technology for non-cash collateral.

She believes that the adoption of these new technologies will not undermine market integrity, given that “there are already successful and mature commercial applications for asset tokenization, such as digital government bond issuance in Europe and Asia, institutional repo and payment transactions of over $1.5 trillion in notional size on enterprise blockchain platforms, and more efficient collateral and fund management.”