Kraken Debuts Derivatives Trading in U.S., Plans Expansion to Commodity, Stock Futures

Crypto exchange Kraken on Tuesday debuted its U.S.-regulated crypto derivatives trading platform as it eyes expansion into a broader set of asset classes.

Dubbed Kraken Derivatives US, the marketplace integrates futures trading with spot crypto markets, giving traders a single interface to manage margin and risk. The service allows for instant collateral transfer between spot and futures positions.

The offering first went live in Vermont, West Virginia, North Dakota, Mississippi and District of Columbia, with more states to be added, the exchange said in an X post.

The firm also shared plans in a press release about expanding its derivatives offering to a wider array of asset classes later this year, including commodities, fixed income, FX and equity futures.

The debut comes as crypto exchanges are racing towards offering a unified marketplace across asset classes as competition with digital brokers and traditional trading venues is heating up.

To do so, Kraken acquired a CFTC-licensed futures trading platform NinjaTrader for $1.5 billion earlier this year. Rival exchange Coinbase acquired options trading marketplace Deribit and launched perpetual-style futures regulated by CFTC in the U.S. Meanwhile, digital trading platform Robinhood bought regulated crypto exchange Bitstamp.

Kraken also recently introduced tokenized stock trading through the xStocks Alliance.