Coinbase is taking its derivatives offering beyond crypto assets with the launch of US500 Perps, a single contract that gives eligible traders exposure to the U.S. large-cap equity market. The product is now live on Coinbase Derivatives, the company's regulated derivatives venue.

Coinbase Brings 500 Stocks Into One Contract

Coinbase announced that US500 Perps are live, allowing traders to go long or short on a basket representing 500 of the largest companies in America. The company shared the announcement on X on August 17, 2026 (x.com/CoinbaseMarkets/status/2089448879552917809):

The 500 largest companies in America. Now in a single contract.

For the first time in the US, get perpetual-style exposure to the entire US large-cap economy.

Now live on Coinbase Derivatives. pic.twitter.com/O86DLl7SMI

— Coinbase Markets 🛡️ (@CoinbaseMarkets) August 17, 2026

Instead of trading individual securities or holding hundreds of separate positions in a portfolio, the product packages a wide selection of large-cap U.S. stocks into one derivatives contract. According to Coinbase, the launch marks the first time that U.S. traders have had access to perpetual-style exposure to the entire U.S. large-cap economy through its derivatives platform.

Perpetual-style contracts are a familiar instrument on crypto trading venues and, unlike traditional dated futures, do not carry a fixed expiration date. The structure was popularized by crypto exchange BitMEX, which introduced perpetual swaps in 2016, and perps have since become one of the most heavily traded types of crypto derivatives. A highlighted feature of US500 Perps is that crypto traders who already know how perpetual contracts work can participate on either side of the market — going long or short — without necessarily owning the underlying assets.

A New Route Into U.S. Equities

The launch continues Coinbase's push to use derivatives as a link between crypto trading and the traditional financial markets. It extends the perpetual-style futures Coinbase began listing on its CFTC-regulated venue in July 2025, when the company introduced nano-sized bitcoin and ether perps as its first perpetual-style contracts for U.S. traders. Although the underlying index of US500 Perps is the same, the contracts let traders take a wider market position using just a single contract, providing exposure to broad market direction rather than to the performance of any single constituent company. Going long is a way to position for a rise in the large-cap U.S. equity market, while going short is a way to position for a decline in that market.

The move also brings a crypto-native contract structure into a segment long dominated by incumbent futures exchanges such as CME Group, whose E-mini S&P 500 contracts are among the most widely used listed instruments for broad U.S. large-cap exposure, and it follows CME's own announced plans to introduce perpetual-style futures. The release is also another step in Coinbase's campaign to make derivatives trading more common among its established customer base as the platform opens access to multiple asset classes — a campaign that has included the 2025 acquisition of Deribit, long a leading venue for crypto options.

Coinbase Derivatives Handles the Product

US500 Perps are available on Coinbase Derivatives. Coinbase Derivatives, LLC is registered as a Designated Contract Market with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Cleared futures and swaps are available via Coinbase Financial Markets, Inc., a Futures Commission Merchant registered with the CFTC and a member of the National Futures Association.

The launch is not direct ownership of the underlying stocks; the product takes place within a framework of regulated U.S. derivatives. Coinbase noted that traders need to differentiate the product from purchasing a fund that tracks the S&P 500 or from buying individual stocks, as a perpetual-style futures contract is not true ownership of the underlying companies and does create derivatives exposure.

As the product rolls out, open questions include how its liquidity, margin requirements, and fee structure compare with the dated equity index futures and index-tracking funds investors already use for broad U.S. market exposure.

Coinbase also cited the dangers of futures trading. The company cautioned that futures trading is fraught with risk of loss and could be inappropriate for all investors, and it added that the release should not be seen as an investment recommendation or a trading recommendation.