Kraken has launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures trading for eligible US clients, bringing onshore access to the most widely traded derivatives product in digital asset markets.
The contracts are available on Kraken Pro alongside spot, margin, and CME-listed futures on a single interface.
What perpetual futures offer
Perpetual futures track the price of an asset like bitcoin without an expiry or settlement date, allowing traders to hold leveraged long or short positions indefinitely.
Unlike standard futures, there’s no need to roll contracts forward.
The product category has grown significantly, with annual trading volume surpassing $60 trillion in 2025.
Until now, most of that activity took place offshore due to limited regulated options for US-based traders.
How the contracts work
The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange recently acquired by Kraken’s parent company, Payward.
They use an 8-hour funding rate mechanism, where payments are exchanged between long and short holders at 7:00 p.m., 3:00 a.m., and 11:00 a.m. CT to keep contract prices anchored to spot.
At launch, eligible clients can trade BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX, with plans to expand the contract set over time.
Darius Tabatabai, Head of Kraken Pro, said:
“US traders have been waiting for a regulated, domestic way to trade the product that defines global crypto derivatives markets.”
Building on recent US expansion
The launch follows a series of US product releases.
Kraken added support for CME-listed crypto futures in July 2025 and introduced margin trading for eligible US clients earlier this month.
