Coinbase, a leading cryptocurrency exchange, has launched pre-launch markets trading on its international and advanced platforms, allowing eligible institutional and retail traders to speculate on cryptocurrencies before their official launch.
The new feature, announced in a post on Coinbase’s website, enables users to trade perpetual futures contracts on tokens that have not yet been listed on spot exchanges. This innovative offering lets traders participate in price discovery for upcoming projects on a trusted and secure platform. Coinbase plans to initiate the first pre-launch listing on Monday.
Institutional users eligible for the pre-launch markets can access them through Coinbase International Exchange, while eligible retail traders can utilize Coinbase Advanced. The feature is exclusively available outside of the U.S., Canada, and the UK.
According to Coinbase, once the underlying token is officially launched, the pre-launch futures contract will automatically convert into a standard perpetual contract. However, pre-launch markets operate differently than standard perpetual futures. They utilize a 4-hour exponential moving average (EMA) of a token’s mark prices to determine the “Pre-Launch Index Price.”
Due to the high-risk nature of pre-launch markets, Coinbase emphasizes that these markets may experience lower liquidity, higher volatility, and increased liquidation risk compared to standard perpetual futures. As a precaution, pre-launch markets will not be part of Coinbase’s Liquidity Support Program (LSP). Coinbase has imposed a maximum leverage of 2x and a position limit size of $50,000 notional for pre-launch markets, contrasting with the 10x leverage available for regular perpetual futures.
“We aim to provide a controlled environment for early-stage cryptocurrency trading, balancing innovation with risk management,” stated Coinbase in an informational blog post.
