Key facts:
- Coinbase launched a new international exchange out of Bermuda for institutional clients.
- The expansion into Bermuda follows “restrictive” US regulation, he said.
The American company Coinbase announced today the launch of its new cryptocurrency exchange abroad. He indicated that this is thanks to the recent approval of a regulatory license from the Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) to operate globally.
Coinbase currently has an exchange in the United States that bears the same name and is noted for registering the largest global cryptocurrency trade after its competitor Binance, according to data from the CoinMarketCap explorer. And, with this new initiative, the company seeks to attract institutional investors globally.
This new exchange, dubbed the “Coinbase International Exchange” is aimed at institutional users based outside of the United States. It is underlined that, for the moment, it is not available to retail customers although it plans to be by the end of the year.
As for its services, Coinbase International Exchange will begin by offering bitcoin (BTC) and ether (ETH) perpetual futures settled on the USD Coin (USDC) stablecoin. And it will allow leverage of up to 5 times.
The company did not detail from which countries this new exchange can be accessed, but instead invited those interested to fill out a form on its new platform to find out if they are eligible.
US regulatory pressure pushes Coinbase abroad
Coinbase clarified, before the launch of this new exchange in Bermuda, that it remains “committed” to the United States. However, he indicated that US regulation has led them to expand outside the country.
“Countries around the world are increasingly moving forward with responsible crypto-friendly regulatory frameworks to strategically position themselves as cryptocurrency hubs,” Coinbase said. But he noted that the United States is not going in the same direction.
“We would like to see the United States take a similar approach instead of restrictive regulation, which has led to a disappointing trend for crypto development in the United States.”
Coinbase, bitcoin and cryptocurrency exchange.
In this way, Coinbase made clear the regulatory pressure that companies in the cryptocurrency industry are going through in the United States. This is something that some analysts reported by Market Times had already advanced, warning that the regulation of this country could unleash complications for the ecosystem and market prices.
