Full story
Kraken brings perps onshore
Kraken launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible U.S. clients on Kraken Pro, expanding its domestic derivatives offering and placing the contracts alongside spot, margin, and CME-listed crypto futures in a single interface.
The launch follows Kraken’s parent company Payward’s April agreement to acquire Bitnomial, which holds all three required CFTC licences for a vertically integrated derivatives business, and the deal is valued at up to $550 million.
Kraken said perpetual futures track the price of an underlying asset without expiry or settlement, allowing positions to remain open indefinitely as long as margin requirements are met.
At launch, eligible U.S. clients can trade perpetual bitcoin and eight other assets, with the contracts covering Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Avalanche.
Kraken said perpetual futures generated more than $60 trillion in annual trading volume in 2025, and it plans to expand the range of contracts and collateral options over time.
Funding, leverage, and access
Kraken described perpetual futures as contracts that track the price of an asset without an expiration date, with positions requiring no rollover and remaining open as long as margin requirements are met.
To keep perpetual prices anchored to spot markets, Kraken said its perpetuals use an 8-hour funding rate mechanism, with funding payments exchanged at 7 p.m., 3 a.m., and 11 a.m. CT each day.
When the perpetual price sits above spot, Kraken said longs pay shorts, and when it sits below, shorts pay longs.
Kraken said the launch gives U.S. traders access to perpetual futures within the CFTC’s regulatory perimeter on a platform they can use alongside spot, margin, and CME-listed futures, with perpetuals and futures in the same futures wallet.
Arjun Sethi, Co-CEO of Payward and Kraken, framed the offering around operational efficiency, saying: "Spot, margin, futures and now perpetuals all live in the same account at Kraken".
Regulatory backdrop and market impact
The launch comes as U.S. regulators have been opening the door for regulated platforms to list perpetual futures, with the CFTC in May approving Kalshi’s bitcoin perpetual contracts and issuing guidance that created a path for Coinbase to connect U.S. customers to global options and perpetual markets.
“Kraken has switched on perpetual futures trading for eligible U”
Kraken said the contracts are listed on Bitnomial and offered through NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, doing business as Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant.
Crypto.news reported that Kraken’s setup lets traders manage spot, margin, futures and perpetual contracts from a single Kraken Pro account and use the same collateral pool across positions rather than moving assets between separate venues.
In a June 15 announcement, Kraken said eligible U.S. users can trade perpetual futures on Kraken Pro alongside spot, margin and traditional futures products, allowing them to manage multiple trading strategies within a single account.
Kraken’s launch also followed earlier U.S. product expansion, including support for CME-listed crypto futures in July 2025 and margin trading for eligible U.S. clients earlier this month.
