Coinbase Receives DCO Authorization, Derivatives Infrastructure Closed Loop Leads to HIP-3 Imagination

According to Woofun AI, Coinbase (COIN.US) was authorized by the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) on Monday to register its entity as a derivatives clearing agency (DCO), officially completing the final piece of the puzzle of regulated derivatives infrastructure.

As the core carrier, Coinbase Clearing LLC further opens up the clearing process on the basis that it already has futures brokers and designated contract market qualifications. The agency is limited to handling contracts with full collateral guarantees, covering futures, futures options and swaps, while leveraged derivatives and margin derivatives businesses, single share perpetual contracts, etc. still need to rely on external clearing partners. This design, based on the USDC architecture, aims to improve the speed of product development and operational efficiency.

Notably, data compiled by Woofun AI shows that the industry is paying close attention to the potential support of such compliance clearing capabilities for the on-chain order book ecosystem, especially the market volume represented by Hyperliquid's daily perpetual contract trading volume in US dollars.

Structurally, Coinbase's new infrastructure may provide a path to support a restricted form of the HIP-3 market, which is in line with plans announced by Kraken parent company Payward through Bitnomial Exchange and NinjaTrader Clearing earlier this month. In this scenario, Bitnomial is responsible for listing and clearing new contracts for eligible US clients, NinjaTrader Clearing manages accounts, while Hyperliquid's on-chain order book is responsible for matching trading orders in an attempt to restructure derivatives liquidity within a compliance framework.

Currently, however, this is just speculation. Coinbase Clearing can only handle fully funded contracts, and Coinbase has yet to officially announce plans to launch the HIP-3 market. Meanwhile, Payward's proposal is still awaiting approval from regulators, and it will take time to verify whether the two parties can actually bridge the boundaries between on-chain and compliant liquidation.