Coinbase is looking to relax in Bermuda, an overseas British territory that is self-governed, with the announcement of an “international derivatives exchange” there, for institutional crypto traders. Coinbase was founded in San Francisco in 2010, although its operations are all remote today, according to its management. It is traded on the US Nasdaq exchange, and had revenues exceeding $3 billion in 2022.

The Bermuda exchange will feature Bitcoin and Ether perpetual futures (which have no expiration date). Company management has apparently been frustrated recently in getting permission from the SEC to offer futures directly to customers in the US. SEC Chairman Gary Gensler is well-known to be thorn in the side of crypto-trading companies, not even offering an opinion on whether it's a commodity or a security while believing that many businesses working with digital assets are operating illegally.

For its part, Coinbase management said it remains committed to the US, from where it draws 84% of its revenue, but also said its “regulation by enforcement (is a) disappointing trend.”

Coinbase offshore operations will likely be viewed by the SEC as the same sort of rogue actor as Binance, which developed its own coin and operates in Japan after being founded in China in 2017. world as Binance. The company has been investigated by the IRS and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) in the US for potential money laundering and tax evasion, and by government agencies in several other countries as well.

Photo of Bermuda by the Government of Bermuda.