By Hannah Lang
April 22 (Reuters) - Global crypto exchanges are racing to capitalize on the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission's expected move to allow trading in perpetual crypto futures, a popular but risky derivatives product that has so far largely remained offshore.
Kraken's parent company said on Friday it was acquiring crypto derivatives platform Bitnomial for up to $550 million, giving it access to Bitnomial's perpetual futures offering. Coinbase, meanwhile, has rolled out long-dated
futures contracts designed to resemble perpetuals, while Robinhood has said it is exploring offering the products in the United States.
Perpetual futures, commonly known as "perps," are a type of futures contract that does not have an expiration date, meaning investors can hold positions indefinitely rather than closing them out or rolling them over. Perps also allow traders to borrow heavily, sometimes as much as 50 times, to amplify their bet.
Those two features, say critics, make them risky, exposing retail investors - who are typically attracted to leverage but may not always fully grasp how the contracts work - to sharp losses if prices move against them, even by just a small amount.
"You don't have to think about where the market is, and [losses] could just compound and compound," said Ben Schiffrin, a director at Better Markets, a Washington-based advocacy group that generally pushes for tougher regulatory oversight of Wall Street. "That makes it that much more risky for retail investors."
A SURGE IN POPULARITY
Currently, perpetual futures in the United States exist in a regulatory gray area, neither banned nor explicitly approved. U.S. President Donald Trump courted crypto cash on the campaign trail by promising industry-friendly policies, and crypto companies have been pushing for his CFTC to fully greenlight the products.
Trump's new CFTC chair, Michael Selig, said at a conference last month that the agency plans to do that in the "near future." An agency spokesperson said that Selig "looks forward to delivering clarity concerning the regulatory status of all types of innovative crypto products.”
The contracts have surged in popularity over the past year, as crypto traders have sought new ways to profit from volatility amid a broader slump in token prices since October.
Perpetual futures trading volume reached $61.7 trillion in 2025, up 29% on 2024, according to data from market data provider CryptoQuant. That far outpaced spot crypto trading, which totaled $18.6 trillion, up 9% from 2024.
Much of that has been on Hyperliquid, a blockchain-based offshore crypto exchange that has emerged as a major venue for the novel products and offers contracts on a range of tokens. Offshore platforms like Hyperliquid typically try to restrict U.S. users.
Hyperliquid, which was created in 2022, did not respond to a request for comment.
“Over the last 12 months it definitely has picked up a ton,” said Matthew Fisher, chief executive of Katana, a decentralized finance-focused blockchain that acquired an exchange called IDEX in March to launch perpetual futures.
REGULATORY GRAY AREA
Currently, CFTC-regulated exchanges can certify that a new product, including perpetual futures, complies with the agency's rules, a process known as "self-certification." If the agency doesn't object within a limited timeframe, the product can launch, but the regulator can still take action against it at any time.
Bitnomial is the only U.S. platform offering perpetual futures via self-certification. Coinbase last year self-certified "perpetual‑style" futures with five‑year expiration dates and leverage of up to 10 times.
Boris Ilyevsky, head of U.S. futures at Coinbase, said he believed the retail market for perps would continue to grow. Coinbase processes millions of perp trades a day, representing billions of dollars in notional value, he said.
Some firms, however, say self-certification is not a legally strong enough basis on which to launch a perps platform.
“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,” said Johann Kerbrat, general manager of crypto at Robinhood, which offers perpetual futures in Europe. Robinhood's website says it is working to make them available to all customers soon.
In December, crypto exchange Gemini said it was exploring expanding its U.S. derivatives offerings to include perpetual contracts, though it declined to comment on specific plans.
Rebecca Rettig, chief legal and operating officer at Jito Labs, a crypto platform which is tracking the issue, said the CFTC has been "extremely engaged" with the industry on the novel products, and is grappling with how those and other crypto products fit within its regulations.
A spokesperson for Kraken did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In a statement, Luke Hoersten, the founder and CEO of Bitnomial, said in a statement that Kraken's acquisition of the company will give "U.S. customers access to the global standard in crypto derivatives, on their home turf."
On its website, Bitnomial warns that trading in futures "involves substantial risks."
LEVERAGE LIMITS
The prospect of bringing the risky products onshore has raised concerns among investor advocates. Better Markets has urged the CFTC to impose strict leverage caps and require robust risk disclosures.
For its European perps offering, Robinhood requires customers to pass a knowledge test to demonstrate they understand the risks, Kerbrat said.
Still, leverage limits could make U.S.‑regulated products less attractive than offshore alternatives, said some executives.
When given the choice, crypto investors often opt for greater risk, said Ryan Rasmussen, head of research at Bitwise Asset Management.
"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 said. That's something to monitor, though the market would likely find ways to mitigate the risks, he said.
(Reporting by Hannah Lang in New York; editing by Michelle Price and Deepa Babington)
