Kraken Launches CFTC-Regulated Perpetual Futures for US Traders via Bitnomial

Kraken has begun offering perpetual futures to eligible US traders through a fully CFTC-regulated structure, opening a product line that Americans have largely been shut out of for years. The exchange confirmed the contracts are cleared through NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC — doing business as Kraken Derivatives US — a registered Futures Commission Merchant, and listed on Bitnomial Exchange, LLC, a CFTC-designated Designated Contract Market.

The dual-entity setup is the core of the story. Rather than operating an offshore-style perpetual swap venue, Kraken is routing US client orders through a licensed futures commission merchant onto a regulated contract market, giving American traders a compliant path to a product previously available almost exclusively on platforms based outside the country.

Why perpetuals have been off-limits in the US

Perpetual futures — contracts with no expiry that use funding rates to track spot prices — have been one of the most heavily traded instruments in global crypto markets for years. Yet US-based traders have generally been excluded from that market, since most perpetual swap venues operate offshore and restrict or geoblock US IP addresses and KYC data.

That left a gap that some US traders filled by using offshore platforms despite restrictions, exposing themselves to counterparty and compliance risk with no domestic regulatory backstop. Kraken’s launch is designed to close that gap by putting the same style of product inside a regulated derivatives wrapper that the CFTC already oversees.

The regulatory plumbing behind the launch

Two registrations underpin the offering. NinjaTrader Clearing, LLC, operating as Kraken Derivatives US, is registered with the CFTC as a Futures Commission Merchant, the entity type responsible for handling customer margin and executing orders on regulated exchanges. Bitnomial Exchange, LLC, is the CFTC-regulated Designated Contract Market where the perpetual contracts are actually listed and traded.

Structuring the product this way means Kraken is not asking regulators to bless a new category of instrument from scratch. Instead it is placing perpetual futures inside the existing US futures market infrastructure, using licenses that already exist and are subject to ongoing CFTC oversight.

Why it matters for traders

For US-based crypto traders, the practical effect is access to a familiar leveraged product without needing to route funds through offshore accounts or use platforms that explicitly bar US persons. That reduces counterparty risk tied to unregulated venues and puts customer funds and trading activity under CFTC jurisdiction, with the associated reporting and capital requirements that regulated futures merchants must meet.

It also signals a broader shift in how major US exchanges are positioning themselves in derivatives markets — building compliant, regulator-approved rails rather than waiting for bespoke crypto-derivatives rules, at a moment when regulated futures products for digital assets remain limited compared with the offshore perpetuals market’s size and depth.

Read more: Kraken’s UK Footprint Runs on 3 Separate FCA Registrations, Not One License

Sources

• newsbtc.com
• bitcoinist.com