Coinbase and Robinhood futures units pull ahead
At the end of August, the futures commission merchants owned by Coinbase and Robinhood held $581.4 million in segregated client money, per FM Intelligence calculations from CFTC monthly filings. The same month, the six registered US retail forex dealers owed clients $470 million. Two years earlier, the two crypto-linked FCMs held just $40.3 million. The shift is recent. Coinbase Financial Markets held $346.9 million in August, while Robinhood Derivatives held $234.5 million. Together, they passed the retail forex total in January 2026.
Why the CFTC comparison matters
The numbers aren’t apples to apples. FCM balances cover all futures clients at those firms, not only crypto traders. The forex figure is retail only. So the comparison is more about the size of each licensed channel than a direct market share contest. Still, it matters because the CFTC’s October 5 advance notice on retail crypto trading imagines borrowed funds for retail crypto purchases only through FCMs or banks they sponsor. A broker license from Cyprus, the UK, or Australia is not on that list. In June, the CFTC fined two firms $2.5 million over a white-label service that let offshore brands offer margin trades to US retail clients.
Kraken adds another large FCM
Kraken owns two more FCMs. NinjaTrader Clearing, bought with NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion in 2025, held $586.5 million. It clears Kraken’s US perpetual futures. NinjaTrader already held $281.5 million in September 2024, before Kraken owned it. The forex side has moved the other way. Balances owed to clients at registered dealers kept falling through the first half of the year. At $470 million, they are 15% below their August 2015 level. Gain Capital and OANDA hold 71% of that total.
Margin rules remain unresolved
The CFTC’s plan has two parts, Regulation Crypto Asset Transactions and Regulation Crypto Asset Markets, and sets no margin ratio. It asks whether margin should be left to clearing houses or delegated to the National Futures Association, as with forex dealers. The NFA’s 50:1 cap on major currency pairs dates from 2010. CFTC Chairman Michael Selig said the agency wants rules that prevent fraud before it happens, rather than only prosecuting after the fact. Retail crypto margin in the US already runs higher than in Europe. Coinbase lists perpetual-style bitcoin futures at up to 10 times, and Robinhood has announced the same ceiling. The European Securities and Markets Authority told firms in February that perpetual futures likely fall under EU CFD rules, which cap crypto margin at 2:1. Comments on the CFTC notice close on December 14. The full FM Intelligence analysis projects where platform-owned balances could stand by August 2027 and tracks what buyers have paid for CFTC licenses since 2021.
