Global crypto exchanges are racing to stake out positions in the U.S. market ahead of an anticipated CFTC decision that would explicitly permit trading in perpetual crypto futures - a derivatives product that has gained broad adoption offshore but has so far existed in a regulatory gray area domestically.
The most concrete corporate move to date came Friday, when Kraken’s parent company announced it will acquire Bitnomial, a crypto derivatives platform, for up to $550 million. The purchase gives Kraken access to Bitnomial’s perpetual futures offering, which the company markets as a core part of its derivatives business.
Other firms are advancing alternate routes to the same end. Coinbase has introduced long-dated futures contracts intended to approximate the economics of perpetuals, while Robinhood has said it is exploring ways to make similar products available to U.S. customers. Bitnomial at present is the only U.S. platform offering perpetual futures via the CFTC’s self-certification process.
What are perpetual futures?
Perpetual futures - often abbreviated to perps - are futures contracts without an expiration date. That feature allows traders to hold positions indefinitely instead of closing positions or rolling them into new contracts. Perps also commonly permit high degrees of leverage; some venues allow borrowing as much as 50 times an investor’s capital in order to amplify positions.
Those two attributes - indefinite holding periods and high leverage - are central to why the products attract both high trading volumes and regulatory scrutiny. Advocates say they provide flexibility and liquidity, while critics point out the risks to retail participants who may not grasp the potential for rapid, compounded losses when markets move against them. "You don’t have to think about where the market is, and [losses] could just compound and compound," said Ben Schiffrin, a director at advocacy group Better Markets.
Growing onshore interest as offshore venues dominate
Perpetual futures have proliferated overseas, where several offshore venues have built sizable businesses around the instruments. One such exchange, Hyperliquid, is cited as a major trading venue for perps and offered contracts across many tokens. Offshore platforms typically seek to block U.S. users, though enforcement and technical restrictions vary. Hyperliquid, created in 2022, did not respond to requests for comment related to its role in the market.
Despite offshore dominance, U.S. firms and some offshore rivals are preparing for the possibility that domestic regulatory clarity will shift demand back onshore. Matthew Fisher, chief executive of Katana - a decentralized finance-focused blockchain that acquired an exchange called IDEX in March to launch perpetual futures - said, "Over the last 12 months it definitely has picked up a ton." That pickup is reflected in market-wide volumes.
Data from market data provider CryptoQuant show perpetual futures trading volume reached $61.7 trillion in 2025, an increase of 29% from 2024. By comparison, spot crypto trading totaled $18.6 trillion in 2025, up 9% from the prior year. Those statistics illustrate how derivatives, and perps in particular, have become a dominant source of turnover in crypto markets.
Regulatory posture and industry reaction
In the United States, perpetual futures have occupied a gray area. CFTC-regulated exchanges can use a self-certification process to assert that a new product complies with agency rules. Under that process a product can commence trading if the agency does not object within a set window, although the regulator retains the authority to take action later if issues arise.
Coinbase used self-certification last year to list "perpetual-style" futures with five-year expiration dates and leverage up to 10 times. Boris Ilyevsky, head of U.S. futures at Coinbase, said he expects the retail market for perps to keep expanding and noted the platform processes millions of perp trades each day representing billions of dollars in notional value.
At the same time, some executives view self-certification as an insufficient legal foundation for a broad retail offering. Johann Kerbrat, general manager of crypto at Robinhood, which already offers perpetual futures in Europe, said, "I would prefer... that we just do the work at the regulatory level and offer a proper perpetual product that is able to compete with what you have ... on other markets." Robinhood’s website states the firm is working to make such products available to all customers soon.
The CFTC’s chair, Michael Selig, has indicated the agency intends to provide clearer guidance. An agency spokesperson said Selig "looks forward to delivering clarity concerning the regulatory status of all types of innovative crypto products." Industry participants report that the CFTC has been actively engaged on the question, though the precise timelines and final rule text remain to be seen.
Industry preparedness and product design
Kraken’s acquisition of Bitnomial was framed by Bitnomial founder and CEO Luke Hoersten as a way to bring a widely used derivatives standard to U.S. customers. In a statement Hoersten said Kraken’s purchase will give "U.S. customers access to the global standard in crypto derivatives, on their home turf." Bitnomial’s own materials include risk warnings noting that trading in futures "involves substantial risks."
Other exchanges have tailored product designs that stop short of a pure perpetual. Coinbase’s long-dated contracts, for example, include multi-year expirations and limits on leverage compared with some offshore perps. Bitnomial continues to operate under self-certification in the U.S., while other firms weigh whether to follow that path or wait for formal regulatory approval.
Executives note that regulatory risk remains an important input to product design. Rebecca Rettig, chief legal and operating officer at Jito Labs - a crypto platform tracking the issue - said the CFTC has been "extremely engaged" with the industry as it assesses how novel products fit within existing rules.
Risk controls, leverage limits, and investor protections
Investor advocates have urged the CFTC to impose strict leverage caps and stronger disclosure requirements should perpetuals be formally allowed onshore. Better Markets, for example, has called for leverage limits to curb the potential for rapid, outsized retail losses.
Robinhood’s European offering includes a knowledge test to verify that customers understand the risks before they trade. Some industry participants warn that strict leverage limits in the U.S. could make domestically regulated perpetuals less attractive compared with offshore alternatives that permit much higher borrowing multiples. That competitive dynamic poses a policy trade-off for regulators: tighter safeguards may reduce consumer risk but could push trading offshore if domestic products appear restrictive.
Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at Bitwise Asset Management, observed that retail investors tend to choose higher risk when presented with the option, saying, "I think we’re going to see more and more investors start taking risks with perpetuals that they perhaps wouldn’t have taken with traditional futures." He added that the broader market could find ways to mitigate some risks, though he did not specify which measures those might be.
Where things stand
As companies expand product offerings and position for regulatory clarity, several open questions remain. Will the CFTC formalize rules that allow perpetuals, and if so, what conditions or limits will be imposed? Will self-certification continue to be a widely used pathway for launching such contracts, or will firms prefer to wait for explicit approval? And how will domestic protections affect the competitive landscape with offshore venues that have fueled much of the perps market so far?
For now, industry activity is intensifying: Kraken’s acquisition of Bitnomial demonstrates a strategic bet that formal U.S. access to perpetuals will be commercially meaningful. Coinbase and Robinhood’s moves indicate alternative strategies to bring similar exposure to U.S. traders. Regulators and investor advocates are pressing to ensure those offerings include meaningful safeguards if and when they become widely available onshore.
Key takeaways
- Major crypto exchanges are actively preparing to offer perpetual futures in the U.S., with Kraken acquiring Bitnomial for up to $550 million and Coinbase and Robinhood advancing alternative perpetual-style products.
- Perpetual futures allow indefinite positions and often permit very high leverage, features that have driven large trading volumes but raised concerns about retail investor risk.
- The CFTC has indicated it plans to clarify the regulatory status of these products, but questions remain about leverage caps, disclosure standards, and whether firms will rely on self-certification or await formal rulemaking.
End of report.