Kraken and Coinbase each launched new perpetual futures products on Monday, marking the broadest single-day expansion of US-regulated derivatives in the crypto era.
Kraken activated CFTC-regulated perpetual futures for eligible US clients through Bitnomial, a crypto derivatives exchange owned by Kraken's parent Payward. The products are live on Kraken Pro, covering BTC, ETH, SOL, XRP, ADA, LINK, DOGE, LTC, and AVAX. On the same day, Coinbase Derivatives activated four perpetual-style equity index futures priced against AI, defense, China, and Nasdaq-100-style thematic baskets, the first such contracts listed on a US regulated exchange.
Kraken’s path to CFTC-regulated perps runs through its April acquisition of Bitnomial. As The Defiant reported at the time, Payward agreed to pay up to $550 million for the exchange, which over a decade of operations had accumulated the full set of CFTC licenses: exchange, clearinghouse, and brokerage.
"US traders have been waiting for a regulated, domestic way to trade the product that defines global crypto derivatives markets," said Darius Tabatabai, Head of Kraken Pro, in Kraken’s announcement. "Perpetuals, spot, margin and CME-listed futures now sit on one interface, and that changes how US clients build and manage crypto positions."
