Coinbase to discontinue margin trading services due to regulatory concerns

Coinbase is discontinuing its margin trading product due to regulatory concerns.

The exchange announced the product will be fully offline in December, when all existing margin positions have expired, in a blog post Tuesday.

As of November 25 at 2 p.m. PT, customers will be unable to place new margin trades. Any open limit orders will be cancelled at that time as well.

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Coinbase relaunched its margin trading services this year after suspending the functionality in 2017. A flash crash in the price of RTH led the exchange to discontinue margin until this past February, when it rolled out the service in 23 states. 

In 2017, the Commodities Future Trading Commission (CFTC) sent an inquiry to Coinbase about its margin service following the flash crash. Now, concerns about recently-released CFTC guidance are driving the exchange to shutter the services indefinitely, according to the blog post.

"We believe clear, common sense regulations for margin lending products are needed to protect and provide peace of mind to U.S customers," said the blog post. "We look forward to working closely with regulators to achieve this goal."

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Aislinn Keely is a reporter on The Block's policy team holding down the legal beat. She covers court decisions, bankruptcies, regulatory actions and other key moments in the legal sphere, putting them in context for the wider crypto industry. Before The Block, she lent her voice to the NPR affiliate WFUV and helmed Fordham University's student newspaper. Send tips or thoughts on all things policy and legal to [email protected] or follow her on Twitter for updates @AislinnKeely.