Kraken has released a new product called Kraken Perps, allowing eligible retail traders to speculate on cryptocurrency prices at any hour of the day throughout the year. The rollout arrives as the company prepares for an expected public listing in 2026, positioning itself alongside other major trading platforms with expanded derivatives services.
What Perpetual Contracts Mean For Traders
Perpetual contracts, often called perps, are a type of futures contract that operate without an expiration date. In traditional futures trading, contracts settle on a specific day, which forces traders to either close out or roll over their positions. Perps work differently.
As long as the trader maintains the required margin, the position can remain open indefinitely. This structure makes them particularly appealing in the digital asset sector, where trading happens all the time. The flexibility of perps has helped them become a widely used tool for speculating on short- and long-term price movements.
How Kraken Perps Work In Practice
With Kraken Perps, traders can take a long position when they expect prices to rise or a short position when they anticipate a decline. Importantly, participants do not need to own the underlying asset. At launch, collateral for positions comes from Kraken USD balances, with more options to be added later.
The app includes built-in safeguards to help retail users manage their activity. Stop-loss orders, for example, allow traders to set automatic exits when prices move against their predictions. Margin alerts and an easy-to-use interface further assist in keeping users informed.
Opportunity, Risk, And Safeguards
While perps provide new ways to engage with markets, they carry heightened risk. Leverage amplifies gains but can also accelerate losses. In turbulent conditions, positions may close quickly if collateral requirements are not maintained. Kraken acknowledges these challenges and highlights that perps are not designed for every type of investor.
To address this, the platform offers educational materials alongside protective tools. Traders are encouraged to understand how the contracts function before entering positions. Access to Kraken Perps is being introduced gradually in jurisdictions with clear regulatory frameworks, ensuring compliance with local rules.
Kraken’s expansion into perpetual contracts complements its broader strategy. Alongside perps, the company has introduced tokenized stock products in Europe, acquired a custom trading platform called Breakout, and continues development on its Layer 2 project known as INK. Together, these steps point to a deliberate effort to build a full-service environment for retail and institutional clients ahead of its anticipated public listing.
