Kraken recently launched its derivatives business 'Kraken Derivatives US' for American users through the acquisition of the futures platform NinjaTrader, initially opening to five regions including Vermont and Washington D.C., offering crypto futures contracts listed on CME, integrated into its Pro platform, enriching its derivative services beyond spot trading. This business is regulated by the CFTC, marking an important step for Kraken in expanding its institutional-grade tool offerings.


The current crypto derivatives market is showing significant expansion: total trading volume is expected to exceed $23 trillion by 2025, with Bitcoin derivatives' open interest surpassing $70 billion, and perpetual contracts (with no expiry date) seeing a 150% increase in trading volume over the past year, outpacing traditional futures. In addition, decentralized exchange (DEX) derivatives trading is also on the rise, expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2025, doubling from last year.

Positive outlook: several directions

  1. Compliant crypto derivatives ecosystem
    Kraken's new platform is regulated by the CFTC and is connected to CME's crypto futures, which will attract both U.S. institutional and retail users with high compliance requirements, further legitimizing the status of crypto derivatives and benefitting the overall liquidity of the compliant derivatives sector.

  2. Competitiveness of leading exchanges
    By acquiring NinjaTrader, Kraken fills its derivatives gap, creating differentiated competition with rivals such as Coinbase and Binance.US, especially in the U.S. market. The compliant derivatives layout may enhance user retention and capital inflow, solidifying its leading position.

  3. Mainstream coins like Bitcoin
    The expansion of the derivatives market (especially Bitcoin futures) is often linked to the spot market—after derivatives provide hedging tools, institutions are more willing to increase their spot positions, and as Bitcoin serves as the primary underlying asset for derivatives, demand may be further stimulated.

  4. DEX derivatives sector
    Data shows that DEX derivatives trading volume is expected to reach $3.5 trillion by 2025, doubling in growth, indicating an increasing acceptance of decentralized derivatives, benefitting DEX platforms focused on derivatives like dYdX, as well as their underlying ecosystem tokens.


In simple terms, compliance + market expansion benefits both traditional compliant derivatives players and adds fuel to the decentralized derivatives sector, with mainstream coins as underlying assets also benefiting from increased liquidity.#DYDX $BTC