Two major regulatory moves this week are set to widen crypto access on both sides of the Atlantic. The UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has proposed allowing UCITS and certain non‑UCITS retail funds to hold crypto exchange‑traded notes (ETNs) within a strict 10% cap, while in the United States the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) gave Coinbase a no‑action letter enabling it to offer global crypto perpetual futures to American users for the first time.
UK fund framework takes a cautious step
The FCA’s consultation paper CP26/17, published on June 10, would let UK UCITS schemes and most non‑UCITS retail schemes (NURS) allocate up to 10% of scheme property to crypto ETNs. Direct holdings of Bitcoin, Ether, or other cryptoassets for investment purposes remain explicitly excluded — the exposure must travel through securities traded on regulated venues. The rule would apply at the scheme‑property level, so a fund could use crypto ETNs as a satellite allocation while keeping the bulk of its portfolio conventional. Comments on the fund chapter are due July 13, 2026.
The proposal distinguishes between different fund wrappers. Qualified investor schemes, sold to professionals and sophisticated clients, sit outside the proposed retail‑fund cap. Long‑term asset funds (LTAFs) and NURS operating as funds of alternative investment funds face a proposed prohibition on crypto ETN holdings, a treatment on which the FCA is seeking feedback. The regulator emphasised that fund managers must have adequate knowledge of the assets, conduct due diligence, and consider whether crypto ETNs remain liquid under stressed conditions. Existing disclosure rules, including Consumer Duty and prominent volatility statements where NAV is likely to be highly volatile, would apply.
The initiative follows the FCA’s earlier decision — effective October 8, 2025 — to allow retail consumers to buy crypto ETNs directly on FCA‑approved UK investment exchanges, while keeping them in a high‑risk category outside Financial Services Compensation Scheme coverage. The fund proposal thus moves crypto exposure deeper into regulated diversified portfolios, but the 10% leash is designed to keep it from becoming a dominant retail portfolio risk.
Coinbase unlocks global perps for US traders
In a parallel development, Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong announced on X that the exchange received a CFTC no‑action letter on May 29, 2026, clearing it to offer “true global crypto perpetual futures” to US customers. The clearance routes trades through Coinbase Bermuda, treating them as foreign futures, and crucially connects to the Deribit exchange, which Coinbase acquired in May 2025 and which holds over $31 billion in Bitcoin options open interest. Perpetual contracts for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, and other digital commodities already traded on Deribit are included.
Armstrong acknowledged the industry’s long‑standing grey zone: “If we’re being honest, probably ~half of all perpetual futures volume was Americans using offshore products via VPN with loose KYC controls.” The CFTC’s move effectively brings that volume into a compliant US framework. Collateral is held in USDC or USD within Coinbase Financial Markets accounts, and positions are subject to maintenance margin requirements with up to 10x leverage. The product carries the same leverage, liquidation, and funding‑rate mechanics as offshore perps — regulation addresses counterparty risk, not market risk.
At the same time, the CFTC also approved prediction market operator Kalshi to launch a direct Bitcoin perpetual futures contract as a Designated Contract Market (DCM). Coinbase’s structural advantage is its existing US user base and Deribit’s deep global order books, creating pooled liquidity rather than a fragmented domestic market. The approval directly challenges the offshore dominance of Binance, Bybit, dYdX, and Hyperliquid, which had built perp trading volumes partly on US users bypassing compliance.
What it means for the market
Together, these regulatory steps signal a steady normalisation of crypto market infrastructure. The UK is cautiously weaving crypto ETNs into the authorised fund system, while the US is opening a compliant channel to the industry’s most popular derivatives product. Both developments are incremental — the UK cap limits exposure, and Coinbase’s no‑action letter is specific to its structure — yet they represent a meaningful shift toward mainstream integration of crypto assets.