Kraken Brings Regulated Perpetual Futures to U.S. Customers
Kraken has launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for U.S. users through Kraken Pro, listing the contracts on Bitnomial. The rollout brings a major crypto derivatives product into a regulated U.S. venue after years of activity centered largely offshore.
What happened?
Kraken has launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for U.S. users through Kraken Pro, listing the contracts on Bitnomial. The rollout brings a major crypto derivatives product into a regulated U.S. venue after years of activity centered largely offshore.
Why it matters
The launch matters because perpetual futures have become a dominant part of global crypto trading, while much of that activity has historically taken place outside the United States. Kraken said annual perpetual futures volume topped $60 trillion in 2025, underscoring why regulated U.S. access could be significant for exchanges, professional traders and market infrastructure providers.
Kraken has begun offering regulated perpetual futures to U.S. customers through Kraken Pro, marking a notable move to bring one of crypto’s most active derivatives products onshore. The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a Commodity Futures Trading Commission-regulated exchange acquired by Kraken parent Payward earlier this year.
The launch matters because perpetual futures have become a dominant part of global crypto trading, while much of that activity has historically taken place outside the United States. Kraken said annual perpetual futures volume topped $60 trillion in 2025, underscoring why regulated U.S. access could be significant for exchanges, professional traders and market infrastructure providers.
Perpetual futures, often called perps, let traders take long or short exposure to assets such as bitcoin without owning the underlying token and without a fixed expiration date. Positions can remain open as long as margin requirements are met, making them different from traditional futures contracts.
The rollout follows recent CFTC signals that regulated platforms could list perpetual futures. CoinDesk reported that the agency approved Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual contracts in May and issued guidance that also opened a path for Coinbase to connect U.S. customers to global options and perpetual markets.
Kraken has been expanding its derivatives footprint ahead of the launch. The company acquired NinjaTrader in May 2025 and Bitnomial a year later, and it has recently added CME-listed crypto futures and margin trading for U.S. customers.
At launch, Kraken’s perpetual futures cover major crypto assets including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC and AVAX. The company said it plans to add more contracts and collateral options over time.