Kraken Unleashes Regulated Perpetual Futures in the US

Kraken has expanded its US crypto derivatives offering with the launch of perpetual futures contracts on Kraken Pro. The move follows the exchange's acquisition of Bitnomial, a licensed exchange and clearing platform regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).

The new product allows eligible US traders to trade perpetual futures contracts on major cryptocurrencies such as BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. Perpetual contracts have no time limit and can be traded over the long term by traders.

Kraken stated that the perpetual contracts are listed through Bitnomial and cleared through Kraken Derivatives US. The service operates under NinjaTrader Clearing, a registered Futures Commission Merchant. Funding payments occur every eight hours to keep perpetual futures prices aligned with the underlying spot market.

The launch comes as US regulators continue to open up the door to domestic crypto derivatives products. Recent CFTC approvals have accelerated competition among regulated exchanges seeking to capture trading activity that historically flowed offshore. Perpetual futures generated more than $60 trillion in trading volume during 2022, according to data cited by Kraken.