Kraken launches CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for US traders

Popular crypto exchange Kraken has on Monday launched perpetual futures trading to eligible US users through Kraken Pro. The exchange will route the contracts through its recently acquired Bitnomial exchange, with full CFTC regulation.

The newly launched product helps to fulfill a deficit that has kept most U.S. traders on the sidelines of the global perpetual futures market. According to the exchange’s announcement, that market exceeded $60 trillion in trading volume in 2025, with the vast majority of activity running through offshore platforms beyond the reach of the U.S. regulatory bodies.

Kraken’s perpetual futures contracts

Perpetual futures allow traders to take leveraged long or short positions on an asset’s price without a specific expiration date. Perp positions continue to remain open as long as margin requirements are met.

Kraken plans to use a funding rate that resets every eight hours, particularly at 7 p.m., 3 a.m., and 11 a.m. CT. The company’s blog post explains that long holders would pay short holders when the price of the perpetual contract trades above spot, with the reverse happening when it trades below. The trading structure is designed to keep contract pricing firmly tethered to the underlying asset.

At launch, the cryptocurrencies covered by the product include Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Solana (SOL), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), Chainlink (LINK), Dogecoin (DOGE), Litecoin (LTC), and Avalanche (AVAX). The exchange also mentioned that it plans to add more assets and a bigger pool of collateral options over time.

Bitnomial and NInjaTrader importance

Payward, Kraken’s parent company,  purchased derivatives exchange Bitnomial in May 2026. A year before, the company also bought NinjaTrader, the futures brokerage now revamped as Kraken Derivatives US and registered with the CFTC as a Futures Commission Merchant.

Perpetual contracts will be held in the same futures wallet as the exchange’s existing CME-listed products, so traders can manage both types of positions with the same funds.

“The most useful thing an exchange business can do for a serious trader is to put everything in one place,” Payward and Kraken co-CEO Arjun Sethi said. “Spot, margin, futures, and now perpetuals all live in the same account at Kraken.”

Darius Tabatabai, head of Kraken Pro, said in the company’s announcement that Bitnomial’s regulated infrastructure made a fast rollout possible. “Their work on the regulatory and market structure side, combined with Kraken’s distribution and technology, is what brings this to US traders at scale,” Tabatabai added.

CFTC increasingly open to perpetual futures

The launch follows signals from the CFTC in May that opened a path for regulated venues to list perpetual futures. The agency approved Bitcoin perpetual contracts from prediction market Kalshi that month, and also allowed for Coinbase to connect US customers to global options and perpetual markets. Kalshi recorded more than $1 billion in perpetual trading volume within its first week.

Kraken’s move is the latest in a string of derivatives releases platformed for its U.S. customers. It launched CME-listed crypto futures in July 2025 and added margin trading for eligible US clients earlier in June 2026.

Kraken’s head of derivatives, John Palmer, told CoinDesk that adoption could follow the pattern set by spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs), with sophisticated traders entering first and institutional funds following after internal compliance reviews.