Kraken to List CFTC-Regulated US Perpetual Futures on Bitnomial

Kraken announced plans to offer CFTC-regulated perpetual futures to U.S. clients within 30 days, to be listed on Bitnomial Exchange after the company submitted a filing to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. The parent company, Payward, agreed on April 17 to acquire Bitnomial for up to $550 million.

The exchange posted that U.S. clients will soon be able to trade perpetual futures on Kraken Pro. Kraken said the filing was submitted late Friday, but no specific Bitcoin perpetual contract appeared in Bitnomial’s recent public CFTC submissions as of Sunday morning. Requests for additional information to Kraken executives and Bitnomial’s chief regulatory officer were not immediately answered.

Perpetual futures are derivative contracts without a fixed expiry date that track an underlying asset’s price, typically through funding rates or index prices. Bringing such contracts onto a CFTC-regulated venue would place trading, clearing and custody under U.S. regulatory frameworks.

The announcement follows recent regulatory and industry activity. The CFTC on Friday approved a Bitcoin perpetual futures contract for KalshiEX; Kalshi had originally requested confidential treatment for that application. Shortly after that approval, Coinbase Financial Markets moved to give U.S. institutional clients access to global crypto options and perpetual futures through Deribit, the Amsterdam-based platform Coinbase acquired in August 2025.

In September, the SEC and the CFTC said they would explore ways to allow onshore trading of perpetual futures, which have largely been offered offshore. CFTC staff issued guidance on 24/7 trading, clearing and settlement for crypto asset derivatives. CFTC Chair Michael Selig commented: “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.”

Companies in the industry frequently request confidential treatment for CFTC filings, which can delay public disclosure of contract details. Kraken has said its timeline depends on final CFTC approval and on any confidential filings associated with the application.

Kalshi and Coinbase/Deribit have already taken steps to offer Bitcoin perpetuals to U.S. clients. Kraken’s announcement describes the plan to list contracts on Bitnomial once regulatory approval is in place, and Payward has framed the Bitnomial acquisition as a way to expand access to perpetual futures for Kraken Pro customers.