Interactive Brokers Taps Coinbase for ‘Perpetual-Style’ Crypto Futures

Interactive Brokers (IBKR), a leading global brokerage with more than 4.5 million clients, rolled out small-sized nano BTC and ETH futures contracts today.

The contracts leverage Coinbase Derivatives’ traditional futures offerings, which have monthly expirations, and its “perpetual-style futures,” making IBKR the latest traditional brokerage to offer perpetuals.

The move is IBKR’s latest into crypto, after enabling stablecoin deposits in December.

Perpetual derivatives exploded in 2025, driven by the success of platforms such as Hyperliquid, Lighter and Aster. Nearly $8 trillion in decentralized perpetuals trading occurred in 2025, according to DeFiLlama, compared with $2.55 trillion in 2024 and just $690 billion in 2023.

Traditional financial institutions continue to expand their crypto trading offerings, as evidenced by the CME Group adding new altcoin futures yesterday and even teasing its own native tokenized cash during its latest earnings call.

Unlike in previous crypto cycles, when traditional players slowly stepped away as prices dropped, leading institutions such as CME and IBKR continue to dive headfirst into the space, despite Bitcoin falling more than 50% from its October peak. However, it remains unclear whether TradFi’s focus on broadening trading access will meaningfully affect crypto prices.