Kraken has turned on perpetual futures trading for eligible US clients on Kraken Pro, bringing the most widely traded cryptocurrency derivatives product under domestic regulatory oversight for the first time.
The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-licensed exchange, clearinghouse and brokerage, which is operated by Kraken’s parent company, Payward. acquired Earlier this year. The launch gives U.S. traders access to perpetual futures — a product that generated more than $60 trillion in global trading volume in 2025 — within the CFTC’s regulatory perimeter, on a platform they can use alongside spot, margin, and futures contracts listed on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Perpetual futures contracts track the price of the underlying asset without an expiration date. Unlike standard futures contracts, positions do not require any rollover and can remain open as long as margin requirements are met. The structure gives traders sustainable leveraged exposure, long or short term, to assets they do not hold.
To keep contract prices linked to spot markets, Kraken Perpetuals use an 8-hour funding rate mechanism. At 7pm, 3am and 11am Central Time each day, long and short position holders exchange financing payments. When the perpetual price falls above the spot price, long trades drive short trades; When below, shorts pay longs, the company He said.
Launch the Kraken
Launch depends Petnomialwhich holds the full suite of US derivatives licenses – stock exchange, clearing house, and brokerage. Payward completed its acquisition of Bitnomial in May of this year, one year after completing its purchase of NinjaTrader in May 2025.
These two operations gave Kraken the organized infrastructure needed to put on permanent shows within a local venue.
Perpetuals on Kraken Pro are housed in the same futures portfolio as existing CME-listed products, meaning traders can manage both CME futures and perpetual cryptocurrencies against a single set of collateral. This structure eliminates the need to hold capital across multiple places to fund separate positions.
Arjun Sethi, co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, framed the pitch around operational efficiency:
“The most useful thing an exchange can do for a serious trader is to put everything in one place. Spot, margin, futures and now perpetual contracts live in the same account in Kraken, with perpetual and futures contracts backed by the same collateral so that capital is not scattered across six places.”
At launch, eligible US customers can trade perpetual Bitcoin and eight other assets. Kraken said it intends to expand both the range of contracts and collateral options available over time.
Products are offered by NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, doing business as Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission dealer.
The launch follows a CFTC signal in May that opened the door for regulated platforms to offer perpetual futures contracts.
The agency approved Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual contracts that month and issued guidance that also created a path for Coinbase to connect U.S. customers to global options and perpetual markets.
everything See more Over $1 billion in trading volume during the first week of product launch.
