US residents can trade perpetuals directly on Kraken Pro. You’ll need to complete identity verification and pass the Futures eligibility check, which takes a few minutes. Certain states may have restrictions, eligibility is confirmed at sign-up.
Contracts may require as little as $25 in intraday margin, but maintaining a position may require additional funds.
Transfer USD from your main Kraken balance to your Futures wallet, instantly, for free. All collateral is held in USD. No external deposit needed.
CME futures have fixed expiry dates. Perpetuals don’t. Your position stays open as long as you want. Both live on the same Kraken Pro platform and the same Futures wallet.
Leverage varies by contract. BTC and ETH perpetuals support higher leverage tiers. All 17 contracts support intraday margin, so you don’t need full contract size to open a position. While leverage can increase potential returns, it also significantly increases risk.
Every 8 hours (00:00, 08:00, 16:00 UTC), a funding payment is exchanged between long and short position holders. If the perpetual price is above spot, longs pay shorts, and vice versa. This keeps the contract price anchored to the underlying market. You can see the current funding rate for each contract in Kraken Pro before opening a position.
Lower margin requirements for positions you open and close within the same trading day. Positions that don’t meet initial margin may be liquidated overnight. Available on all 17 contracts.
You can create an account on Kraken Pro for free. You pay fees as you trade via a maker-taker model. Maker orders pay less, and fees drop further as your 30-day volume grows.
NinjaTrader Clearing LLC dba Kraken Derivatives US trading Bitnomial perpetuals. Full stack regulatory ownership. CFTC-regulated. No third-party intermediaries.
