Catenaa, Thursday, May 29, 2025-Crypto exchange Kraken has launched regulated crypto derivatives trading across the European Economic Area, the company announced last week, marking a significant step in its global expansion.
The move makes Kraken’s perpetual and fixed maturity futures contracts available to both retail and institutional investors under the European Union’s Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID II).
The contracts, already commanding daily volumes between $1 billion and $2 billion, will now be accessible with the backing of a regulatory license.
Kraken secured the MiFID II-compliant license through its recent acquisition of Greenfield Wealth, a Cyprus-based investment firm authorized by the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC).
The derivatives rollout comes as competition in the European crypto market intensifies. Coinbase recently acquired Deribit, while Bitstamp and Gemini have entered the regulated futures space.
Meanwhile, BackPack snapped up FTX EU’s MiFID II license, signaling a broader push into the European derivatives market.
Kraken has made similar inroads globally, including its $1.5 billion acquisition of U.S. trading platform NinjaTrader and its 2019 purchase of Crypto Facilities, a UK Financial Conduct Authority-regulated futures platform.
Kurtas added that Kraken’s Embed platform will enable neobanks and fintech firms in Europe to integrate both spot and derivatives trading for their clients.
Kraken’s strategic use of nimble regulatory environments like Cyprus and Malta underscores the crypto industry’s growing focus on regulatory alignment in expansion efforts.
