Kraken has started offering CFTC-regulated perpetual futures to eligible US institutional and professional clients, the exchange confirmed Thursday. The contracts, listed through Bitnomial and cleared through NinjaTrader Clearing, cover nine assets: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. Perpetual futures are the dominant derivatives format in global crypto markets, but until now most of that trading happened offshore due to stricter US rules.
What's available and who can trade
Perpetual futures let traders take leveraged long or short positions without a fixed expiry — they roll indefinitely via a funding rate mechanism. Kraken's version uses an eight-hour funding rate structure. The product is restricted to eligible US institutional and professional clients; retail users can't access it. The exchange is working through Bitnomial as the listing venue and NinjaTrader Clearing, a CFTC-registered futures commission merchant and NFA member, to clear the trades.
Historically, professional traders had to choose between the liquidity of offshore exchanges and the regulatory comfort of domestic venues. Kraken's move aims to close that gap. By bringing a crypto-native derivatives format onshore under a CFTC framework, the exchange is building out a more complete US derivatives stack. The timing also aligns with a broader push by US regulators to bring crypto activity into compliance without stifling innovation.
The liquidity hurdle
The real test for regulated perpetuals is whether they can attract enough volume to compete with offshore giants. Professional traders care about spreads, funding efficiency, margin rules, and execution quality — not just regulatory status. Kraken will need to offer competitive terms to pull order flow away from unregulated venues. It's not an easy sell, but it's a necessary one if the US wants to host this market domestically.
For now, the product is live and available to eligible clients. The next few months will show whether Kraken can build the depth needed to make it a serious alternative to offshore platforms.
