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In a Friday announcement, Coinbase has delisted 25 perpetual futures contracts, and the pattern is sector-driven rather than random. The exchange settled all open positions using a 60-minute average index price before suspension, removing exposure to a cluster of tokens concentrated in high-volatility narratives.
Coinbase’s massive derivatives cleanup: Who got cut?
A lot of the affected contracts are in the AI and data economy segment. IO, GRASS, PROVE and PROMPT are all connected to decentralized computing, data labeling and AI infrastructure. These tokens did well during the 2025 AI rally because of speculation, but derivatives liquidity has gotten thin as capital moved to larger caps.
Another visible block comes from DePIN and infrastructure plays. HNT is all about decentralized wireless networks, and AR is for permanent data storage. Both sectors are still active, but it looks like their markets have not had a lot of open interest over time.
Gaming and meme exposure is also reduced. HMSTR, DEGEN, MEW and GIGA are high-beta community or gaming-driven categories, where derivatives volume tends to spike briefly and fade. Exchanges usually reassess these contracts when there is less funding activity.
Layer-2 and modular ecosystem tokens were also affected. BLAST, DYM, ZETA, Layer and MANTLE reflect scaling and interoperability narratives. As these ecosystems keep growing, their perpetual pairs did not meet Coinbase's liquidity requirements.
Finally, smaller infrastructure names like FLOW, CRO, CGLD, and RSR were removed, showing that even well-known brands need to show that they have enough demand for derivatives, even if they do not have much of a spot presence.
The changes suggest Coinbase is focusing its derivatives business on contracts with long-term institutional participation instead of on short-term, news-driven surges. When it comes to sectors, the exchange is reducing its exposure to AI microcaps, DePIN infrastructure, gaming memes and some L2 ecosystems, while maintaining a strong presence in larger, consistently traded markets.
Vladislav Sopov
Dan Burgin