Kraken has opened perpetual futures trading for some users in the U.S. through Kraken Pro. The contracts will be processed via Bitnomial, a derivatives exchange that Kraken recently acquired. The product operates under the supervision of the CFTC.
For the U.S. crypto market, this is a fairly significant event. While most of the world actively traded perpetual contracts, American users had to look for workarounds or forgo such instruments altogether.
According to Kraken, just last year the volume of perpetual futures transactions exceeded $60 trillion. The lion’s share of this trading took place on foreign platforms operating outside of U.S. regulation. Most trading occurred on overseas venues that were effectively beyond the direct oversight of the U.S..
How Kraken Perpetual Futures Work
Unlike regular futures, perpetual contracts have no fixed expiration date. The position remains open as long as the trader maintains the required collateral.
For these instruments, Kraken has implemented a funding rate mechanism. Payments between participants will be recalculated every eight hours.
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The mechanics remain standard for the perpetuals market. When a contract trades at a premium to spot, long position holders pay. If the price drops below the spot market, the payment direction reverses. This keeps the contract price close to the value of the underlying asset.
The initial lineup includes bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, XRP, Cardano, Chainlink, Dogecoin, Litecoin, and Avalanche.
The exchange plans to expand the range of contracts and the list of assets that can be used as collateral. In addition, traders have been promised more collateral options for opening positions.
Why Bitnomial and NinjaTrader Matter
The launch became possible after a series of deals by Kraken. In May 2026, its parent company Payward acquired Bitnomial. A year earlier, Kraken bought futures broker NinjaTrader.
After rebranding, NinjaTrader became Kraken Derivatives US and registered with the CFTC as a Futures Commission Merchant.
The new contracts will be available through the same wallet that Kraken already uses for CME futures products. This means traders can manage different positions without transferring funds between separate accounts.
According to Arjun Seti, the idea is to gather key trading tools within one ecosystem, rather than forcing clients to use several different services. He says spot, margin, futures, and now perpetual contracts are all available in a single Kraken account.
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Head of Kraken Pro Darius Tabatabai noted that the rapid launch was made possible by Bitnomial‘s infrastructure. Its regulatory base, along with Kraken‘s technology and client network, enabled the product to reach the U.S. market at scale.
CFTC Shifts Approach to Perpetual Futures
Kraken launched the product shortly after the CFTC began more actively opening the path for regulated perpetual contracts in the U.S..
In May, the commission approved bitcoin perpetuals for Kalshi. At the same time, Coinbase gained the ability to connect U.S. clients to global options and perpetual futures markets.
Demand was high. In the first week alone, perpetual contract trading volume on Kalshi exceeded $1 billion.
For Kraken, this is a continuation of expanding derivatives in the U.S.. In July 2025, the exchange launched crypto futures tied to CME, and in June 2026 added margin trading for some American clients.
Head of derivatives at Kraken John Palmer believes the market could develop like spot bitcoin ETFs. First, experienced traders will enter, followed by institutional players after internal checks and approvals.
