Kraken's new perpetual futures, listed on CFTC-regulated Bitnomial, give U.S. traders a regulated alternative to offshore perp platforms. The CFTC's no-action letter made it possible.
Alpha Score of 54 reflects moderate overall profile with weak momentum, weak value, strong quality, moderate sentiment.
Kraken launched perpetual futures for U.S. customers through its Kraken Pro platform. The contracts are listed on Bitnomial, a CFTC-regulated exchange that Kraken's parent company Payward acquired earlier this year. The launch makes Kraken the first major U.S. crypto exchange to offer perps under a regulated framework.
Perpetual futures, or perps, let traders speculate on crypto prices without owning the asset. Unlike traditional futures, they have no expiration date. Positions stay open as long as margin requirements are met. Global perp trading volume exceeded $60 trillion in 2025, according to Kraken. Most of that volume flowed through offshore platforms like Hyperliquid, which have no U.S. registration.
For traders, the immediate takeaway is access to a regulated perp product. The practical question is whether liquidity will follow. Offshore platforms still offer deeper order books and more leverage. Kraken's launch changes the regulatory calculus for those platforms. U.S. authorities now have a domestic alternative to point to when questioning offshore activity.
The CFTC's no-action letter is the key. In May, the agency approved bitcoin perps on Kalshi. Then it issued a letter permitting exchanges to convert perpetual-like futures contracts into true perpetual products, provided they meet customer protection requirements. That letter gave Kraken and others a clear path to launch. The Kalshi approval was the first U.S. regulated bitcoin perpetual, and Kraken's move extends that precedent to a major exchange.
At launch, Kraken supports nine cryptocurrencies: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. The company plans to add more contracts and collateral types. CME, whose bitcoin and ether futures have long been the only regulated U.S. derivatives product, now faces a competitor that offers perpetuals rather than expiring contracts. CME carries an Alpha Score of 54/100, reflecting mixed positioning as the derivatives landscape shifts.
Kraken's move does not erase the dominance of offshore perp exchanges overnight. It gives U.S. traders a choice they did not have before. Kraken plans to expand its contract lineup and collateral options in the coming months.
Prepared with AlphaScala research tooling and grounded in primary market data: live prices, fundamentals, SEC filings, hedge-fund holdings, and insider activity. Each story is checked against AlphaScala publishing rules before release. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.