Coinbase, Robinhood Futures Hold $581M, Topping US Retail Forex

The futures commission merchants (FCMs) of Coinbase and Robinhood together held $581.4 million of segregated client money at the end of August, Financemagnates reported, citing a new FM Intelligence analysis of Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) monthly FCM filings.

That figure is larger than the $470 million owed to clients by all six registered US retail forex dealers in the same month. Two years earlier, the pair’s futures arms held just $40.3 million, according to the same analysis, which covered the 24 months through August 2026.

Also read: CFTC Relief Turns Coinbase's 25-Year Index Futures Perpetual

Key facts

• Coinbase Financial Markets held $346.9 million of segregated client money in August, and Robinhood Derivatives held $234.5 million.
• Combined, the two FCMs crossed the retail forex total in January 2026.
• Kraken’s NinjaTrader Clearing, which Kraken acquired with NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in 2025, held $586.5 million and clears Kraken’s US perpetual futures; it held $281.5 million in September 2024, before Kraken owned it.
• US retail forex balances were 15% below their August 2015 level, with Gain Capital and OANDA accounting for 71% of the total.
• The CFTC’s advance notice on a retail crypto framework was published on October 5; comments close on December 14.

Two channels, two directions

The shift is sharper because the two sides moved in opposite directions. Crypto-linked FCM balances climbed from a $40.3 million base two years ago, while the money owed at registered forex dealers fell steadily through the first half of this year to $470 million.

The comparison is not like-for-like in scope. FCM balances cover every futures client at those firms, not only crypto traders, whereas the forex figure is retail only. The analysis uses each number to measure the size of its licensed channel.

Also read: CFTC Registers Coinbase Clearing LLC, Completing Derivatives Stack

Why the CFTC’s rulebook is the real story

The balances matter because of who the CFTC has in mind for retail crypto leverage. Its advance notice on a retail crypto framework, dated October 5 and organised as Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, contemplates retail crypto loans only through FCMs or banks they sponsor. A Cyprus, UK or Australian broker licence is not on that list. In June the agency fined two firms $2.5 million over a white-label service that let offshore brands offer leveraged trades to US retail clients.

The notice sets no leverage ratio. It asks whether margin decisions should sit with clearing houses or be delegated to the National Futures Association, the route used for forex dealers, whose 50:1 cap on major currency pairs dates from 2010. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig has said the agency wants rules that stop fraudulent schemes such as FTX before they happen rather than prosecuting only afterwards.

US retail crypto leverage already runs above European levels. Coinbase lists perpetual-style bitcoin futures at up to 10 times leverage, and Robinhood has announced the same ceiling. The European Securities and Markets Authority told firms in February that perpetual futures likely fall under EU CFD rules, which cap crypto leverage at 2:1.

Why it matters

The numbers show that the platform-owned brokers serving US crypto traders now hold more client money than the country’s legacy retail forex industry, the channel that once defined leveraged retail trading. If the CFTC’s framework funnels retail crypto leverage through FCMs, that gap is likely to keep widening, and firms without an FCM or a sponsoring bank would be shut out of the pipeline. The forex dealers the agency has regulated since the 2010 leverage cap are, by balance size, no longer the main event.

What to watch

Comments on the CFTC’s advance notice close on December 14, and the agency’s decisions on margin delegation will determine whether crypto platforms face a forex-style leverage cap. The full FM Intelligence analysis also projects where platform-owned balances could stand by August 2027.

Written by

Katherine Wells

Katherine Wells covers forex and currency markets for StockPil, tracking the macro trends that move exchange rates.

Source: Finance Magnates