Kraken has begun offering CFTC-regulated perpetual futures to U.S. customers through Kraken Pro, marking a major milestone for bringing one of crypto's most popular trading products into the United States. The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange acquired by Kraken's parent company Payward earlier this year. Perpetual futures allow traders to take long or short positions on assets like bitcoin without owning them and without an expiration date, as long as margin requirements are met. According to Kraken, global perpetual futures volume surpassed $60 trillion in 2025, with most activity concentrated on offshore exchanges. The launch follows CFTC guidance in May that cleared the way for regulated platforms to offer perps, including approvals for Kalshi and Coinbase. Kraken's perpetual futures initially cover major cryptocurrencies including BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC and AVAX, with plans to expand contract range and collateral options. The CFTC also issued a no-action letter allowing exchanges to transition perp-style futures contracts into true perpetuals, subject to customer protection conditions. Kraken has built toward this through acquisitions of NinjaTrader and Bitnomial, and recently added CME-listed crypto futures and margin trading for U.S. customers.

Key facts

• Kraken launches CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for US customers via Kraken Pro.
• Contracts listed on Bitnomial, CFTC-regulated exchange acquired by Payward in 2026.
• Global perpetual futures volume exceeded $60 trillion in 2025, per Kraken.
• CFTC guidance in May and no-action letter in June enabled regulated perps.
• Initial assets: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, AVAX.

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