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Coinbase to Launch Stock Futures, Why This Is Big For Crypto

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Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency centralized exchanges (CEX) in the United States, has just announced the launching of stock perpetual futures for non-US traders.

Coinbase Expands Beyond All Borders

The CEX’s expansion, announced today in a blog post on its official website, isn’t just about stepping beyond U.S. borders to give global traders ongoing leveraged exposure via perpetual futures. It also marks Coinbase’s push beyond crypto into traditional assets, turning this rollout into a fresh bet on the growing trend toward tokenized stocks and 24/7 markets, driven by both TradFi and DeFi players. Recently, Europe’s largest asset manager Amundi announced the launching of a tokenized fund on Ethereum and Stellar, as covered by Bitcoinist just today.

Coinbase frames this launch as part of its broader “Everything Exchange” strategy, aiming to bring crypto, traditional assets, and new tokenized products into one venue.

Today, Coinbase expands its global derivatives offering with the launch of stock perpetual futures, becoming one of the first major centralized venues to offer this product. This launch strengthens Coinbase’s position in international derivatives and advances our long-term strategy of building the Everything Exchange where traders can access crypto, traditional, and emerging assets side by side.

Over the past year, Coinbase has laid the regulatory and product runway for this leap. It first rolled out crypto perpetual futures to U.S. retail traders under CFTC oversight in mid‑2025, then pushed derivatives into Europe via a MiFID II license obtained through its Bux acquisition, reaching 26 countries in an earlier March 2026 expansion that landed alongside its stock index futures debut.

A 24/7 US stock market

The CEX itself describes perpetual futures as “a type of derivative contract that enables traders to speculate on the price of an asset (…) without needing to buy or own the underlying asset itself.” Unlike standard futures, never expire, so traders can keep positions open indefinitely as long as they meet the margin requirements.

At launch, contracts cover the “Magnificent Seven” tech stocks: Apple, Microsoft, Alphabet, Amazon, NVIDIA, Meta Platforms, and Tesla. In certain permitted jurisdictions, perpetual futures on benchmark ETFs tracking, the S&P 500 (SPY) and the tech‑heavy Nasdaq‑100 (QQQ), are also available.

Leverage goes up to 10x on individual stock perpetuals and up to 20x on ETF perpetuals. All contracts are settled in USDC, Coinbase’s preferred stablecoin. The platform uses unified margin across perpetual and spot positions, allowing more capital-efficient portfolio management and risk offsets.

What This Means For Traders

Coinbase is methodically weaving spot, futures, and now stock‑linked perpetuals into a single, always‑on risk platform that changes how both retail and institutions express views across markets. For traders, that unlocks new basis trades between spot stocks and perpetuals, tighter cross‑asset plays between crypto and U.S. equities, and more complex hedging around macro events and earnings.

The flip side is obvious: deeper leverage stacks mean a higher risk of cascading liquidations and sharper, event‑driven volatility when the Fed speaks, data prints hit, or Big Tech reports.

Bitcoin, BTC, BTCUSD

At the moment of writing, BTC trades barely above the $70k level on the daily chart, marking a downside trend. Source: BTCUSD on Tradingview

Cover image from Perplexity, BTCUSD chart from Tradingview

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Bitcoin weakness deepens as war pushes traders to cut risk in BTC and stocks

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Bitcoin price remains rocky, and BTC and equities ETF outflows soar as the US and Israel-Iran war enters a fourth week.

Electric Capital Maps 501 Real-World Yield Sources, Finds 93% Untouched by DeFi

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A new taxonomy from the venture firm identifies seven barrier clusters keeping most traditional yield sources off-chain, and argues that stablecoin growth is pulling them closer.

Electric Capital published a research report on Monday, cataloging 501 distinct sources of real-world yield and cross-referencing them against tokenized assets with meaningful on-chain traction today.

The venture firm found that only 34 of those yield sources have any on-chain presence above $50 million, and they cluster in familiar territory: U.S. Treasuries, private credit, corporate bonds, and non-U.S. sovereign debt.

The remaining 93% fall into seven groups defined by what’s blocking tokenization, ranging from legal structuring challenges for asset-backed securities to real-world integration hurdles for commodities and compute infrastructure.

Distribution is the Bottleneck

Perhaps the report’s sharpest observation concerns distribution. Of 35 yield-bearing non-stablecoin RWAs above $50 million, only two have crossed 2,000 holders. While some of that is by design — BlackRock’s BUIDL requires a $5 million minimum — the data underscores how dependent most tokenized assets remain on a handful of large deployers and vault curators.

The report highlights how Centrifuge’s JAAA, a tokenized AAA CLO that held $743 million at the time of data collection, lost 44% of its value in a single day on March 9 after Sky’s Grove protocol redeemed $327 million in one transaction.

BlackRock’s BUIDL faces a similar dynamic: its top 10 holders control 98% of supply, and those holders are largely other protocols — Ethena, Ondo, and Sky.

What Comes Next

Electric Capital argues five compounding forces will pull new asset types on-chain: a growing stablecoin base with diversifying yield preferences, competition among protocols for differentiated products, vault infrastructure that absorbs duration risk, tranching layers that expand buyer bases, and leverage loops that multiply demand for collateral-eligible assets.

The firm also flagged AI infrastructure spending — projected by Goldman Sachs to exceed $500 billion in 2026 — as a catalyst, noting that GPU leasing, data center construction, and energy contracts are natural candidates for on-chain financing.

This article was written with the assistance of AI workflows. All our stories are curated, edited and fact-checked by a human.

The Only Cheap Crypto Under $1 That Institutional Whales Are Tracking for Q2 2026

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Institutional investors are increasingly turning their attention to promising low-cap cryptocurrencies, seeking opportunities beyond the top-tier tokens. Among these, Mutuum Finance stands out as the only affordable crypto under $1 currently being tracked by major whales heading into Q2 2026.

With its growing adoption in the DeFi space and recent roadmap milestones, MUTM has caught the eye of institutional players looking for high-potential altcoins. Analysts note that this project’s combination of low price and utility-focused development could position it for significant growth in the coming months, making it a focal point for savvy investors.

Mutuum Finance (MUTM)

Mutuum Finance (MUTM) is currently building a professional hub for non-custodial capital management. The core of this system is the Peer to Contract (P2C) model. In this setup, users can supply their assets to a shared liquidity pool. When they do this, they receive interest bearing receipts known as mtTokens that grow in value automatically. For example, if a user supplies 1,000 USDT at a 10% Annual Percentage Yield (APY), their balance will reflect a growth of 100 USDT over a year.

The second part of the engine is the Peer to Peer (P2P) marketplace. This allows for more flexibility than standard pools. Borrowers can seek specific rates or deal types for assets that might be too volatile for a general pool. To keep the entire system safe, the protocol uses a strict Loan to Value (LTV) ratio. If a user provides collateral worth $1,000 with an 80% LTV, they can borrow up to $800. If the value of the collateral drops, automated bots handle liquidations to keep the pools healthy.

Distribution Milestones and Community Growth

The financial progress of the native MUTM token reflects a strong interest in these technical goals. The project has successfully secured over $21 million in capital. This growth is backed by a global community that has now surpassed 19,200 individual holders. The total supply of the token is fixed at 4 billion units. To ensure a fair start, the team allocated 45.5% of the supply for the early stages. This means exactly 1.82 billion tokens are moving into the hands of the community before the full release.

The token has already seen a 300% increase from its initial starting price of $0.01, currently sitting at $0.04 in Phase 7. As the project moves through its community rollout, the demand is rising quickly. Participants are moving to secure their positions before the token reaches its confirmed official launch price of $0.06. This represents a total appreciation of 500% from the very first phase. To keep the community active, the platform uses a 24 hour board. This leaderboard rewards the top daily contributor with a $500 bonus. This constant activity shows that the presale demand is far outstripping the remaining phase allocation.

V1 Protocol Launch and Verified Safety

The most significant achievement for the project is the activation of the V1 protocol on the testnet. This working version has already handled over $270 million in simulated volume. This proves that the borrowing and lending engine is hardened and ready for heavy usage. Security remains the primary pillar of this strategy. The protocol holds a high safety score of 90/100 from CertiK, which monitors the smart contracts for any vulnerabilities.

Furthermore, the project has completed a full manual code review by Halborn Security. This firm is known for its rigorous testing of high volume financial systems. Based on these technical layers, many analysts have a positive outlook for the protocol. Some forecasts suggest the token could reach a valuation of $0.35 by late 2026. This opinion is backed by the project’s ability to provide a functional tool that solves the high costs of legacy lending platforms.

Stablecoins and Layer-2 Expansion

The roadmap for the rest of 2026 includes several high impact updates. The team is developing a native over-collateralized stablecoin. This will be minted directly against the interest bearing mtTokens held in the protocol. This is crucial because it allows users to unlock spending power without needing to sell their primary assets. It creates a complete financial environment where all needs are met in one place.

To keep costs low and speed high, the project plans to expand to Layer-2 networks. This will reduce transaction fees and allow for even more users to join the network. By solving the problems of high fees and slow speeds, Mutuum Finance is positioning itself as a primary tool for capital management. The focus on verified safety and functional utility is setting it apart as a primary project to watch in the 2026 market.

For more information about Mutuum Finance (MUTM) visit the links below:

Website: https://www.mutuum.com

Linktree: https://linktr.ee/mutuumfinance

 







Bitcoin Stalls at $70K as SPY, QQQ ETFs Post Record Outflows

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After a strong start to the week, Bitcoin (BTC) is down nearly 5%, alongside the S&P 500, DOW, Nasdaq, and Gold. Crude oil, on the other hand, has risen 7.30% and is up 53% since the US and Israel–Iran war began on Feb. 28.

The collective market weakness highlights a coordinated shift in capital flows as the war continues in the Middle East, with an uptick in outflows from the S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 exchange-traded funds (ETFs) further highlighting traders’ decision to cut risk.

Capital exodus takes place across all investment markets

The Kobeissi Letter reported a combined $64 billion outflow from the S&P 500 (SPX) ETF and Nasdaq 100 ETF (QQQ) over the past three months, the largest on record.

This reverses a $50 billion inflow seen in November and pushes outflows to 5% of the total assets under management.

SPY, QQQ ETF outflows chart. Source: Kobeissi Letter/X

The spot Bitcoin ETFs mirrored the broader market weakness, recording $253 million in outflows over the past two days.

While the monthly ETF flows remain positive at $1.48 billion, this comes against the backdrop of $6.3 billion in cumulative outflows between November and February, highlighting a fragile recovery in investor demand.

Glassnode data suggests the market is struggling to absorb the selling pressure. The net realized profit-taking briefly accelerated to around $17 million per hour (24-hour average) before losing momentum, after which the BTC price slipped back below $70,000. Glassnode added,

“Broader geopolitical uncertainty appears to be compressing demand depth, limiting the market’s capacity to absorb even moderate realization events.”

Cryptocurrencies, Russia, Israel, Bitcoin Price, Iran, Markets, United States, Stocks, Price Analysis, Market Analysis, ETF
BTC net realized profit/loss. Source: Glassnode

Related: Market analyst sees further Bitcoin downside, flags $60K as key level

War-influenced market cycles shape BTC price action

Market participants are framing Bitcoin’s move against past geopolitical events, drawing parallels between the current US and Israel–Iran war and the Russia-Ukraine war in 2022.

Coincidentally taking place in February four years apart, crypto commentator Carlitosway noted that following Russia’s attack on Ukraine on February 24, 2022, Bitcoin initially sold off before posting a 24% relief bounce in the following four weeks. The momentum faded soon after, as BTC dropped another 64% by November 2022.

Cryptocurrencies, Russia, Israel, Bitcoin Price, Iran, Markets, United States, Stocks, Price Analysis, Market Analysis, ETF
BTC price action comparison between 2022 and the 2026 war. Source: Cointelegraph/TradingView

A similar sequence is unfolding this month, with BTC rallying nearly 10% at one stage last week since the beginning of the war, but momentum is now slowing down.

Carlitosway linked the weakness to sustained pressure on liquidity, rising energy costs, and continued forced selling during periods of stress, all of which reduce the follow-through demand for Bitcoin. 

The pattern points to a more extended stabilization phase, where the recovery may take time as capital rebuilds and the selling pressure clears.

Crypto analyst Finish believed that the recovery path for Bitcoin might take place after a price bottom around $55,000. The analyst added, 

“I frankly think that until the Iran war is settled, it’s gonna be hard for $BTC to rise. The environment is risk off, the SPX lost trillions in capitalisation, which leads me to a more neutral stance.”

Cryptocurrencies, Russia, Israel, Bitcoin Price, Iran, Markets, United States, Stocks, Price Analysis, Market Analysis, ETF
BTC/USDT analysis by Finish. Source: X

Related: What happens to Bitcoin if oil price hits $180 per barrel?