Immy Dorse 
Coinbase is doing something a bit different. On Tuesday, CEO Brian Armstrong announced the company is introducing a new type of futures contract for U.S. traders. It’s not just crypto, and it’s not just tech stocks. It’s a mix of both.
The idea is to bundle them all into one product. They’re calling it the “Mag 7 + Crypto Equity Index Futures.” The name is a mouthful, but the concept is pretty straightforward. It tracks the so-called “Magnificent 7” tech stocks—Apple, Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Meta, Nvidia, and Tesla. But it also includes Coinbase’s own stock and, interestingly, BlackRock’s Bitcoin and Ethereum ETFs.
A New Kind of Hybrid Index
What’s notable here is the structure. Each part of this index carries the same weight. So, a shift in Bitcoin’s price could influence the overall value just as much as a big move in, say, Nvidia’s share price. It kinda blends two worlds that often move together, but not always. It’s an experiment, perhaps.
They’re using BlackRock’s iShares ETFs to track Bitcoin and Ethereum. Those funds only launched last year but have already pulled in a massive amount of money from investors. It makes sense to use them as the crypto benchmark, I suppose.
Launch Plans and Market Context
You won’t find this directly on Coinbase’s main app, at least not at first. The company says it will share details on “partner platforms” for trading. The official launch is penciled in for September 22. We asked Coinbase for a few more details but haven’t heard back yet.
This feels like part of a bigger push. Coinbase’s stock is up quite a bit this year, around 22%. And they’ve been focusing more on their derivatives business as a growth area. Back in May, they agreed to spend nearly $3 billion to acquire Deribit, an options exchange.
Regulatory Hurdles and Competition
Offering futures like this in the U.S. is tricky. It’s common practice for crypto exchanges elsewhere, but stateside, it’s been stuck in a regulatory gray area for a while. There’s always tension between the SEC and the CFTC over who oversees what.
Coinbase isn’t the only one testing these waters. Rival exchange Kraken just started offering U.S.-regulated crypto derivatives in July. They also mentioned plans for equity futures and even bought a futures broker for a hefty sum earlier this year.
And it’s not just the big exchanges. Even prediction markets are getting in on the action. Polymarket, for instance, recently said it was buying a derivatives exchange as part of its plan to get back into the U.S. market. Everyone seems to be making moves, betting that this corner of the market is about to open up. Whether that actually happens is another story.
