Kraken plans CFTC-regulated perpetual futures launch in U.S. market

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Kraken CFTC-regulated futures launch

Highlights

Kraken plans to launch CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for U.S. clients via the recently acquired Bitnomial Exchange, pending regulatory approval.
Payward acquired Bitnomial for up to $550 million on April 17 to expand Kraken Pro's access to regulated perpetual futures offerings.
Coinbase Financial Markets and Deribit rapidly followed CFTC's Friday approval of Bitcoin perpetual futures, intensifying competition in the emerging regulated U.S. derivatives market.

Regulated launch plan takes shape

As reported by Cointelegraph, the exchange said late Friday that it expects to list the contracts once it gains approval, with the products set to trade on Bitnomial Exchange, a CFTC-regulated venue recently acquired by parent company Payward. The company also said a filing was submitted on Friday, though no filing for a specific Bitcoin perpetual contract was found among Bitnomial's recent CFTC filings as of Sunday morning.

Kraken said the move is intended to bring activity that has largely remained offshore into a regulated domestic venue. In a social media post on Saturday, the company said U.S. clients will soon be able to trade perpetual futures on Kraken Pro.

Requests for more information sent to two Kraken executives and Bitnomial's chief regulatory officer were not immediately answered. Companies can seek confidential treatment for applications, and KalshiEX, which won CFTC approval on Friday to trade a Bitcoin perpetual futures contract, had originally requested confidential treatment of that application in an undated letter to the regulator.

Payward said on April 17 that it was acquiring crypto derivatives platform Bitnomial for as much as $550 million, a deal aimed at giving Kraken Pro customers access to Bitnomial's perpetual futures offering.

U.S. derivatives competition intensifies

Rivals are also moving quickly after the CFTC's approval of Bitcoin perpetual contracts. Shortly after the regulator's decision on Friday morning, Coinbase Financial Markets offered U.S. institutional clients access to global crypto options and perpetual futures markets through regulated futures commission merchant Deribit.

Deribit, which Coinbase acquired in August 2025 as part of its push into crypto derivatives, is the largest crypto options exchange by open interest. The rush by major platforms underscores how quickly the U.S. regulated market for perpetual futures is taking shape after years in which such products were concentrated in offshore venues.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the CFTC said in September they would explore ways to bring perpetual futures trading onshore. In a joint statement, the agencies said regulatory and jurisdictional constraints had largely kept perpetual contracts in offshore crypto markets.

CFTC Chair Michael Selig said on Friday that the question was not whether crypto asset perpetual contracts would exist, but whether they would exist under American oversight, standards and rule of law. Also on Friday, CFTC staff issued guidance on 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement, saying crypto asset derivatives may be particularly well suited to around-the-clock markets.

In our earlier article on the CFTC’s approval of the first U.S.-listed bitcoin perpetual futures contract, we explained how years of offshore growth in “perps” set the stage for regulated onshore listings. We also noted that rising demand—fueled by 24/7, high-leverage trading on offshore platforms—has accelerated competition among major exchanges while keeping attention on the risks of activity occurring outside U.S. oversight.

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