Bitcoin Futures Trading

Bitcoin and digital assets are volatile investments. Many traders attempt to manage their risk simply by buying an asset when the price drops or selling it when the price goes up. The downside of this tactic is that oftentimes money is left on the table after you leave the market. If the price continues to rise after you sell, for example, you’re missing out on profits you could’ve earned had you left your position open.  A key benefit of futures trading is that you can hedge existing spot positions without additional crypto - allowing you to be agile and prepared for any market environment.

Cryptocurrency futures allow you to maximize your returns by utilizing the power of leverage to multiply your profits and apply advanced trading strategies. Use futures to speculate on the direction of the market and minimize risk, all while holding less crypto than on a spot exchange.

Futures, or futures contracts, are an agreement to buy or sell an asset at a later date for a fixed price. They are typically used by traders as a way to hedge other investments or to lock in profits when trading in volatile markets. The prices for Kraken's futures are based on aggregated indices that represent the demand for each cryptocurrency from a variety of exchanges, so pricing is always clear and transparent. There are a number of benefits to this type of trading:

We offer Ethereum, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, Ripple and Bitcoin futures on Kraken. See the chart below for details on each currency pair. 

Futures are extremely capital efficient, meaning that less money is required to open positions than if you were spot trading (1x) or margin trading (3-5x). This means if you have 10 Bitcoin and are scared of price decline, you have to trust 100% of your money to spot exchange to sell, or 20% of your money on margin exchange. With 50x futures, you trust as low as 2% of your money on exchange.

Using collateral as low as 2% of the notional amount, crypto futures allow you to take positions with up to 50x leverage -- giving you flexibility to position yourself in the market while maintaining low exchange risk.

To see if you qualify to trade Bitcoin and other crypto futures on Kraken, visit our support article for details.