Kraken announced on Monday that it has started offering regulated perpetual futures to U.S. customers through Kraken Pro. The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange acquired earlier this year by Kraken's parent company Payward. Traders can access spot, margin, and CME-listed futures alongside perps through a single interface.
What Are Perpetual Futures?
Perpetual futures allow traders to take long or short positions on assets like bitcoin BTC $64,168.87 without owning the underlying and without an expiration date. Positions can remain open indefinitely as long as margin requirements are met. According to Kraken, annual perpetual futures volume surpassed $60 trillion in 2025, making it the dominant crypto derivatives product globally.
Most perp trading has historically taken place on offshore venues such as Hyperliquid, which offers deep liquidity and continuous leveraged access. Prediction market Kalshi, which launched its own perps earlier this month, saw over $1 billion in trading volume in its first week.
Regulatory Tailwind
The launch comes weeks after the CFTC signaled it would allow regulated platforms to offer perpetual futures. In May, the agency approved Kalshi's bitcoin perpetuals and issued guidance that also cleared a path for Coinbase to connect U.S. customers to global options and perp markets. The move is seen as a key catalyst for the onshoring of crypto derivatives.
Building Infrastructure Through Acquisitions
Kraken has been preparing for the rollout through a string of derivatives-focused deals. It acquired NinjaTrader in May 2025 and Bitnomial a year later, gaining regulated futures infrastructure. The company has recently added CME-listed crypto futures and margin trading for U.S. users.
Kraken's head of derivatives, John Palmer, told CoinDesk last week that adoption may mirror the trajectory of spot bitcoin ETFs: sophisticated traders enter first, followed by investment advisers and asset managers after completing internal reviews.
9 Assets at Launch, More to Come
At launch, Kraken's perpetual futures cover BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. The company said it plans to expand the contract list and collateral options over time.