Kraken's CFTC-Regulated Perpetuals Go Live for US Traders

Kraken launched CFTC-regulated perpetual futures on June 15, giving US traders access to the crypto market's most popular derivatives product through a fully regulated venue. The contracts trade on Bitnomial, a designated contract market that Kraken's parent company Payward acquired for up to $550 million. The deal closed in May 2026.

Perpetual futures don't expire. They let traders hold leveraged positions indefinitely, with an 8-hour funding rate that keeps the contract price near spot. This structure drove over $60 trillion in global trading volume in 2025, almost all of it offshore.

The CFTC provided approvals and guidance on May 29. Kraken's rollout covers nine tokens: BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. More tokens are planned.

The risk for traders is liquidity. Early-stage regulated markets can be thinner than offshore venues like Binance or Bybit. Order book depth takes time to build. Kraken Pro Head Darius Tabatabai said initial participation will come from sophisticated retail traders before broader institutional adoption, mirroring the Bitcoin ETF flow pattern.

The contracts integrate into Kraken's existing futures wallet, which already holds CME-listed contracts. Eligible US customers can now trade spot, margin, CME futures, and perpetuals through one interface. The question is whether the liquidity follows.