Kraken Announces Regulated Perpetual Contracts Launch as Competitors Move Swiftly
Following CFTC authorization of perpetual futures contracts linked to Bitcoin's spot price, Kraken anticipates making these products available to institutional clients in the United States within "the next month."
Late Friday, Kraken announced its expectation to introduce CFTC-regulated perpetual futures contracts to the US market within the coming 30 days, just hours following the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission's approval of these financial instruments.
According to the exchange, once approval is secured, these contracts will be made available on Bitnomial Exchange, a platform regulated by the CFTC that was recently purchased by Payward, Kraken's parent organization.
On April 17, Payward announced its acquisition of Bitnomial, a crypto derivatives platform, in a deal valued at up to $550 million, with the goal of enabling Kraken Pro users to access Bitnomial's perpetual futures products.
Despite Kraken's statement indicating that a filing had been submitted on Friday, as of Sunday morning, no documentation for a specific Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual contract could be located among Bitnomial's most recent CFTC submissions. The announcement stated, "Today's announcement sets in motion plans to bring that activity onshore through a CFTC-regulated venue."
A company post on social media Saturday stated, "US clients will soon be able to trade perpetual futures on @KrakenPro."
Inquiries seeking additional details about the filing were sent to two Kraken executives as well as Bitnomial's chief regulatory officer, but immediate responses were not received.
It should be noted that companies regularly submit applications requesting confidential treatment of their submissions. KalshiEX, which received CFTC authorization on Friday for trading of a BTC perpetual futures contract, had initially sought confidential treatment of its application in an undated correspondence with the CFTC.
Competition Intensifies for Dominance in Regulated US Perpetuals Market
Following Friday morning's CFTC authorization of BTC perp contracts, Coinbase Financial Markets moved quickly to provide US institutional investors with access to international crypto options and perpetual futures markets via Deribit, a regulated futures commission merchant.
Coinbase purchased Deribit in August 2025 as part of its strategic expansion into cryptocurrency derivatives, and Deribit currently holds the position of largest crypto options exchange measured by open interest.
In September, the US Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC announced they would investigate methods to bring perpetual futures trading to domestic markets. In their joint statement, the regulatory bodies noted that perpetual contracts had predominantly remained in offshore crypto markets as a result of regulatory and jurisdictional limitations.
On Friday, CFTC chair Michael Selig stated "In my view, the question was never whether crypto asset perpetual contracts would exist. Instead, the question was whether they would exist under American oversight, American standards and American rule of law."
Additionally on Friday, CFTC staff released guidance regarding 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement, indicating that crypto asset derivatives may be especially suitable for round-the-clock market operations.