Kraken Launches Spot Margin Trading for US Clients

Kraken on Wednesday launched CFTC-regulated spot margin trading for U.S. retail clients on Kraken Pro, giving customers up to 10x leverage on long and short crypto positions with no accredited investor requirement.

Traders can post existing crypto holdings as collateral, view real-time risk metrics including liquidation prices and borrowing costs, and use 24/7 stop-loss functionality. Risk is isolated to the collateral allocated to each position rather than the entire portfolio. Eligibility is gated by state and customer criteria.

Kraken framed the rollout as closing a long-running gap in the U.S. market, where regulatory friction had pushed leveraged crypto traders toward offshore venues.

The product is offered through NinjaTrader Clearing, doing business as Kraken Derivatives US, a CFTC-registered Futures Commission Merchant, with financing provided by Payward Accredited LLC.

It is the first concrete result from Payward's acquisition of Bitnomial, the Chicago derivatives firm Kraken agreed to buy in April. The deal, which closed Monday, hands Payward a full CFTC stack: a Futures Commission Merchant, a Designated Contract Market, and a Derivatives Clearing Organization. Kraken has said the infrastructure will underpin a broader push into regulated spot margin, perpetual futures, and options products for U.S. customers.

The launch comes as Kraken accelerates its push into regulated U.S. derivatives infrastructure ahead of a planned public listing. Co-CEO Arjun Sethi confirmed last month that the exchange has confidentially filed for an IPO, alongside a $200 million strategic investment from Deutsche Börse that valued Payward at roughly $13.3 billion.

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