Kraken Says ‘Plans’ to Offer BTC Perps to US Institutionals

Kraken said late Friday that it expects to launch CFTC-regulated perpetual futures contracts in the US in the next 30 days, hours after the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission approved the instruments.

The exchange said when it gains approval, the contracts will be listed on Bitnomial Exchange, a CFTC-regulated exchange recently acquired by Kraken’s parent company, Payward.

Payward said on April 17 that it was acquiring crypto derivatives platform Bitnomial for as much as $550 million, aimed at providing Kraken Pro customers with access to Bitnomial’s perpetual futures offering.

However, while Kraken’s announcement said that a filing had been submitted on Friday, no filing for a specific Bitcoin (BTC) perpetual contact was found among Bitnomial’s recent CFTC filings as of Sunday morning. “Today’s announcement sets in motion plans to bring that activity onshore through a CFTC-regulated venue,” the announcement said.

“US clients will soon be able to trade perpetual futures on @KrakenPro,” read a company social media post on Saturday.

Source: Kraken on X.com

Requests for further information on the filing sent to two Kraken executives and Bitnomial’s chief regulatory officer were not immediately answered.

To be sure, companies frequently file requests for confidential treatment of their applications. KalshiEX, which on Friday gained CFTC approval of trading of a BTC perpetual futures contract, had originally requested confidential treatment of that application in an undated letter to the CFTC.

Related: CFTC seeks to reverse settlement deal with Gemini

Race is on to gain perps lead in regulated US market

Shortly after the CFTC approved BTC perp contracts on Friday morning, Coinbase Financial Markets was fast out of the blocks to offer US institutional clients access to global crypto options and perpetual futures markets through a regulated futures commission merchant, Deribit.

Deribit, which Coinbase acquired in August 2025 as part of its expansion into crypto derivatives, is the largest crypto options exchange by open interest. 

CFTC approval notice for BTC perpetuals trading on Kalshi. Source: CFTC

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and CFTC said in September they would explore ways to bring perpetual futures trading onshore. In a joint statement, the agencies said perpetual contracts had been largely confined to offshore crypto markets due to regulatory and jurisdictional constraints.

CFTC chair Michael Selig said on Friday “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.”

Also on Friday, CFTC staff issued guidance on 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement, saying crypto asset derivatives may be particularly well suited to round-the-clock markets.

Magazine: HYPE chases $100 target, ETH could dump below $1800: Market Moves