Kraken launches regulated spot margin trading in U.S. retail crypto market

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Kraken launches U.S. spot margin

Highlights

Kraken launched CFTC-regulated crypto spot margin trading for U.S. retail users, enabling up to 10x leverage using crypto holdings as collateral.
Payward's acquisition of Bitnomial, announced Monday, supports the future rollout of regulated spot margin, perpetual futures, and options products to U.S. customers.
Kraken, consistently in the top three U.S. crypto trading platforms with $20–$40 billion monthly trading volume, is expanding its regulated derivatives offerings ahead of a potential public listing.

Bitnomial deal supports U.S. rollout

As reported by The Block in a Wednesday blog post, the exchange has launched CFTC-regulated crypto spot margin trading for U.S. retail users, allowing customers to trade with as much as 10x leverage by using their crypto holdings as collateral rather than selling them outright.

Kraken says the product addresses a gap that has pushed traders toward offshore and unregulated platforms. In a statement, Kraken Pro Head Darius Tabatabai says margin is a core feature of global crypto markets and that U.S. traders have been shut out from regulated access to that functionality for too long.

The launch follows Payward's announcement on Monday that it completed the acquisition of Chicago-based Bitnomial, a crypto derivatives exchange with CFTC-issued merchant, contract and clearing licenses. Payward says the transaction is expected to support the eventual offering of regulated spot margin, perpetual futures and options products to U.S. users.

Derivatives strategy and market position

The move adds to Kraken's broader push into regulated derivatives infrastructure as the company prepares for a potential public listing. Payward confidentially submitted a draft S-1 registration statement to the SEC in November.

Kraken is also expanding its institutional and derivatives footprint in the UK and Europe after a separate $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader in March 2025. The exchange remains one of the top three U.S. crypto trading platforms in recent years, behind Crypto.com and Coinbase, and regularly records monthly trading volumes of between $20 billion and $40 billion, according to The Block's exchange data.

Our earlier article on CME Group’s planned launch of CFTC-regulated Bitcoin volatility futures explained how the contracts would let investors trade and hedge 30-day BTC volatility within an onshore clearing framework. We also noted CME’s broader push to align crypto futures and options with around-the-clock trading, reinforcing the market’s shift toward regulated U.S. derivatives tools rather than offshore alternatives.

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