Eligible US traders can now access crypto futures via Coinbase Financial Markets.

The new launch — revealed Wednesday in a blog post — comes after the company gained clearance in August to operate as a futures commission merchant (FCM) from the National Futures Association. 

A futures contract is an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a certain price, and at a specific time in the future. 

“Futures provide traders with the ability to hedge their risk, diversify their portfolios, trade with leverage and speculate on which way the market will go — either up or down,” Coinbase Financial Markets CEO Andrew Sears wrote in a Wednesday blog post. 

Read more: CME says Q3 open…

Read more on Blockworks