Coinbase Plans to Launch Futures Trading for Dogecoin, Lauds Memecoin’s Transition Over Years

Coinbase is seemingly exploring ways to add more services to its portfolio that makes people reach its platform and engage with digital assets in varied manners. The crypto exchange is now planning to launch a futures trading service for Dogecoin. Through futures trading, people can hedge against the future values of an asset under smart contracts which ensure, that on the pre-decided date the buying and selling of the assets are completed at the price that was speculated at the beginning.

Moving forward with this plan, Coinbase has outlined its plans to the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) through written letters. In the letter, the exchange explains how it plans to launch futures contract products with a cash-settle feature. Explaining an interest in DOGE, Coinbase told the CFTC, “Dogecoin's enduring popularity and the active community support suggest that it has transcended its origins as a meme to become a staple of the cryptocurrency world.”

At the time of writing, Dogecoin was trading at $0.15 (roughly Rs. 12.3) as per Gadgets360's crypto price tracker. Screenshots of Coinbase's filing with the CFTC have surfaced on social media.

Coinbase is gearing to launch the Dogecoin futures trading service by April 1. The exchange could launch this service on the Coinbase Derivatives platform before even receiving the approval from CFTC, by invoking the ‘self-certification' method, a report by CoinTelegraph explained. On the sidelines of this development, Dogecoin has risen in value by 19.90 percent in the last 24 hours, showed CoinMarketCap.

Since its inception in 2013, Dogecoin has shown a notable growth in the crypto sector. Dogecoin was created as a joke by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer with its logo modelled after Elon Musk's pet dog that belongs to the Japanese breed of Shiba Inu. Between 2013 and the present day, Dogecoin has swelled to the market cap of $21.4 billion (roughly Rs. 1,78,065 crore) -- sitting on the ninth rank in terms of market cap size on CoinMarketCap.

Dogecoin, however, is not the only cryptocurrency that Coinbase is looking to include in its futures trading list. Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash could also soon make it to this list. Litecoin and Bitcoin Cash are trading at $83.01 (roughly Rs. 6,900) and $399.82 (roughly Rs. 33,236), respectively.