Kraken launches Perps to let retail traders bet on crypto 24/7

Kraken has introduced a new app called Kraken Perps that enables eligible retail traders to predict cryptocurrency prices all year round at any hour of the day. 

Kraken’s rollout underscores its growing ambitions ahead of a potential 2026 public listing. Perpetual contracts, or perps, are a type of futures product that differs from traditional futures. Unlike conventional futures, contracts with a certain expiration date perps have no expiration date. This means traders can stay in the position if they remain at the required margin.

Traders must provide the right amount of trade liquidity in the first instance and the price margin in return for maintaining the stock. Perps was introduced back in 2016 by BitMEX and swiftly became a foundational part of the crypto derivatives markets. They are well-suited for the crypto industry, which has a 24/7 operation and is even more volatile than traditional markets. Kraken’s new product lets users take a longer position on a perceived price gain or a shorter position on a forecast drop. 

Notably, traders don’t need to own the underlying crypto asset to participate. This opens access to those who prefer not to make direct coin purchases. At launch, positions can be collateralized with Kraken USD balances, with more collateral options expected in the future. Kraken has also built in risk-management safeguards to help protect traders.

Stop-loss orders, for example, let traders easily walk away from positions even when the market moves sharply in the other direction. A Kraken spokesperson told The Block that he wants to provide perps to “everyday investors” without exposing them to sudden losses while providing them with protections.

Kraken expands derivatives as IPO looms

Kraken Perps is launching at an important time for the platform, as reports suggest that it is readying for a public listing in early 2026, which may even make it one of the largest crypto companies to go public since Coinbase in 2021. The time marks strong growth in the market for perpetual contracts.

August 2025 was the busiest month ever, with around US$515 billion in trading volume. The spike is a lesson in how many more people have been trading perps because traders have taken advantage of short-term price spikes in a world where futures contracts have expired, and will not allow them to have futures. Meanwhile, Kraken is expanding its ecosystem further.

As earlier reported by Cryptopolitan, the company recently introduced a tokenized stock product, xStocks, to the European Union. It is behind the completion of a deal to acquire Breakout, a custom trading platform, and has been incubating INK, an Ethereum Layer 2 network, which is on track to release a token of its own. 

Those efforts are part of Kraken’s strategy of pushing beyond spot trading. The exchange establishes itself as a full-service trading hub for retail and institutional clients with derivatives, tokenized equities, and blockchain infrastructure.

Kraken balances opportunity and risk

Kraken has designed Perps as a fresh entry point for crypto-market retail traders. The exchange says the product provides more options for users to voice their views on prices, diversification strategies, and handle portfolio risks. As many people can’t have a stake in an underlying asset, the long or short positions provide some trading opportunities and aren’t always for the professional. 

However, within these opportunities are also distinct threats. Perps are very leveraged products, and leverage can amplify ups and downs. In a turbulent crypto market, sudden price surges wipe out positions swiftly. 

In severe scenarios, losses exceeding that initial deposit leave no one safe when trading. Kraken has accepted this fact and notes that “perps are not for every investor.” The exchange has introduced some safeguards to mitigate these risks. 

Stop-loss orders, margin alerts, and easy mobile integration are all intended to protect retail users if markets swing in their opposite direction. Kraken suggests risk management tools can only get you so far, and a trader must understand how perps work before jumping on board. It won’t be the same for access to Kraken Perps on launch. 

Regulatory environments are disparate across nations, and the exchange is rolling the product out in stages, with early releases in several jurisdictions where the legal landscape becomes more conducive.

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