Kraken launches CFTC-regulated spot margin trading in US

Kraken has started offering CFTC-regulated spot margin trading to retail customers in the United States, allowing traders to borrow against their crypto holdings for leverage up to 10x rather than selling assets. The product was announced days after Payward, Kraken’s parent company, completed the acquisition of derivatives platform Bitnomial.

Kraken wrote in a blog post that the lack of regulated domestic margin options had ‘pushed activity offshore, to unregulated venues with none of the protections that come with a regulated market.' The exchange said the new product aims to provide a regulated alternative for U.S. retail traders and to support a wider set of trading strategies.

Bitnomial is a Chicago-based derivatives exchange that holds CFTC-issued merchant, contract and clearing licenses. Payward said the acquisition will allow the company to deploy regulated spot margin alongside perpetual futures and options for U.S. customers over time. Payward also confidentially filed a draft S-1 registration statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in November as part of preparations for a possible public offering.

Darius Tabatabai, head of Kraken Pro, described margin as ‘a foundational component of global crypto markets, enabling more efficient capital deployment and a broader range of trading strategies.' He added that U.S. traders had been excluded from accessing this functionality in a regulated environment.

Kraken has been expanding its derivatives and institutional presence internationally. In March 2025 the company completed a $1.5 billion acquisition of NinjaTrader to strengthen its operations in the U.K. and Europe. Kraken regularly reports monthly trading volumes between $20 billion and $40 billion.

Kraken and Payward said the CFTC-regulated product and the licenses obtained through Bitnomial will support future launches of additional regulated derivatives products for American customers. The company said it will continue to develop both professional and retail trading services.