Crypto trading platforms are increasingly adopting blockchain and native assets such as tokenized Treasury such as USDC Stablecoin and BlackRock's Buidl to increase collateral efficiency in the derivatives market.
These instruments offer a fusion of stability, yield and compliance, making them attractive to institutional players looking for capital optimization.
USDC and Buidl gain momentum with crypto derivatives
On June 18, Coinbase Derivatives revealed that USDC will be accepted as collateral for bordered futures, subject to approval from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) regulatory authorities.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong said:
“This is the first time that USDC has been used as collateral in the US futures market. We will work closely with CFTC to achieve this.”
Stablecoin integration relies on Coinbase Custody Trust, a qualified custodian regulated by the New York Bureau of Financial Services.
In another development, the tokenized Treasury has also gained traction in the derivatives market.
On the same day, digital asset company Securitize announced that BlackRock's USD Institutional Digital Liquidity Fund (BUIDL) could be used as collateral for Crypto.com and Deribit.
The token represents a cash and short-term yield fund supported by the US Treasury Department, and currently manages $2.9 billion in assets.
By accepting Buidl as a margin, these platforms allow institutional traders to earn yields in capital while deploying for leveraged positions.
Why are these assets accepted?
These recent developments highlight this trend, indicating a major shift towards a more capital-efficient and transparent market structure.
Coinbase noted that assets like USDC offer near-instant settlements and enjoy wide acceptance across centralized and decentralized platforms.
Carlos Domingo, co-founder and CEO of Securitize, also reflected this view:
“The tokenized Treasury is actively used to improve capital efficiency and risk management in some of the industry's most sophisticated trading venues, but it still offers yields.”
Meanwhile, these moves have urged businesses to investigate the use of distributed ledger technology for non-cash collateral, following a recommendation from acting CFTC Chairman Caroline D. Famme in November 2024.
She said embracing these new technologies does not undermine market integrity, given that there are successful and proven commercial use cases for tokenizing more than $1.5 trillion in assets in payment transactions on in-facility repositories and entertainment blockchain platforms, such as the issuance of digital government bonds in Europe and Asia.
