Coinbase is extending its offerings beyond cryptocurrencies with a new perpetual-style futures product called the US500, which is intended to allow U.S. traders to take long or short positions on the 500 largest American companies using just one account on the exchange. Trading will start on August 17, 2026, and this represents one of the most direct steps so far by a major crypto exchange into equity-index derivatives for both retail and institutional customers.

What the US500 product is

The US500 is a futures contract of the perpetual type that follows the level of a wide-ranging U.S. large-cap index without granting traders any ownership of the underlying shares. Similar to other perpetual contracts, it has no set monthly expiry and positions can therefore be held on indefinitely as long as the margin requirements are satisfied, with funding payments periodically made between those who are long and those who are short in order to ensure that the contract price stays in line with the index. Coinbase describes it as a "perpetual-style" product so that it complies with U.S. derivatives regulations while at the same time providing traders with the continuous exposure that they expect from global perpetual futures. The contract will be available on Coinbase's regulated derivatives platform and can be accessed through approved Futures Commission Merchants (FCMs), just as the exchange currently arranges for distribution of its crypto perpetual-style futures.

Leverage, eligibility, and how it trades

Several reports state that the US500 will provide up to 20 times leverage to eligible U.S. traders, bringing it in line with the index-linked perpetuals that Coinbase launched earlier this year. This degree of leverage is much higher than that offered by most traditional brokers to their retail clients in equity index futures, and it reflects Coinbase's approach of targeting crypto-native traders who are used to high-leverage derivatives. To participate, users will need to have an existing Coinbase account and will have to go through the normal derivatives onboarding process, which includes identity verification and risk disclosures, before they can trade via an FCM partner. After being approved, traders will be able to open both long and short US500 positions around the clock, enjoying the same 24-hour trading window that Coinbase has been advocating for its margined futures since May 2025.

Why this matters for crypto and equities

The introduction of the US500 blurs the distinction between crypto exchanges and traditional finance. Rather than going through a broker or a different platform to gain exposure to equities, U.S. traders can now speculate on the performance of the 500 largest American companies by using the same interface and collateral system that they currently use for Bitcoin and ether derivatives. For Coinbase, this move is a clear example of a product-led strategy aimed at becoming a one-stop shop for both digital assets and access to mainstream financial markets. From a regulatory point of view, the "perpetual-style" structure is important: traditional perpetual futures, as they are usually offered overseas, are generally classified as swaps in the United States and are therefore subject to more stringent regulations. By employing long-dated, auto-rolling futures that act like perpetuals but adhere to CFTC rules, Coinbase is bringing a product format that is popular around the world into a U.S.-compliant structure. The US500 comes after earlier index-based perpetuals linked to AI, China, defence, and the Nasdaq-100, indicating a deliberate expansion into non-crypto underlying indices.

Risks and what traders should watch

Like any leveraged derivative, the US500 involves a great deal of risk. When markets are moving strongly, funding rates may work against a trader's position, and since the product has 20x leverage, even small movements in the index can result in large gains or losses and possibly in liquidations. Traders should bear in mind that the US500 offers only synthetic index exposure and not any dividends or voting rights, and that settlement is made in cash—usually in USD or stablecoin equivalents rather than in actual shares. Should there be strong interest in the US500, this could help speed up a wider trend in which crypto exchanges become the default places for leveraged exposure to both digital and traditional assets.