Kraken bringing crypto options to a wider audience as the market scales

• Kraken is launching European-style, cash-settled options on BTC and ETH for eligible professional and institutional clients on Kraken Pro.
  
• Contracts are linear and USD-settled, with weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual expiries available at launch through request-for-quote (RFQ) access.
  
• Portfolio margin is enabled by default for all eligible clients, with spot, futures and options unified in a single wallet and collateral accepted in more than 30 currencies.
  
• European access is planned for the second half of 2026, with future phases expected to add a public order book and broader asset coverage.

We’re excited to announce a new suite of options contracts on Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), giving a broader base of professional and institutional clients access to a part of the digital asset derivatives market that we expect will scale materially over the coming years.

Crypto options today are a small share of crypto derivatives activity, in contrast to traditional markets, where options play a much more prominent role. We believe that gap will close and are launching an options offering designed for a wider trader base.

Eligible clients can now trade European-style, cash-settled options in XBT/USD and ETH/USD on Kraken Pro, with weekly, monthly, quarterly and semi-annual expiries available at launch. Access opens initially via request-for-quote (RFQ), with European clients to follow later in 2026, subject to regulatory confirmation.

Crypto options have, for much of the past decade, been the preserve of a handful of venues running contract structures built primarily for crypto-native traders. The launch of regulated bitcoin ETF options in late 2024 showed the scale of latent professional demand for options exposure in a familiar, dollar-settled format. Kraken’s offering is designed to meet that demand with direct exposure to BTC and ETH within a structure professional investors already recognize.

All of Kraken’s options contracts are linear and settled in US dollars, with premium, profit and loss, and settlement denominated in USD. Portfolio margin is enabled for every eligible client by default rather than as an opt-in tier, and offsetting positions reduce overall margin requirements. Spot, futures and options sit in a single unified wallet, and clients can post collateral in more than 30 different currencies, drawing on the same multi-collateral pool that supports Kraken’s existing derivatives offering.

“Crypto options activity is still a fraction of what it is in traditional markets but the gap is closing as professional and institutional capital continues to move into digital assets,” said Alexia Theodorou, Director of Derivatives at Kraken. “The existing options market in crypto has been built for a narrow slice of the trader base. Our offering broadens access through a straightforward, dollar-settled contract design that tracks the underlying asset directly, in the same account clients already use for spot and futures.”

The first phase is the start of a longer build. While the initial offering is RFQ-only, future phases are expected to include a public order book to deepen price discovery as activity scales, alongside broader geographic access and wider asset coverage. European access is planned for the second half of 2026.

Theodorou continued: “Options are central to how sophisticated investors take positions on price, volatility and time. Bringing this capability to Kraken Pro continues the build-out of a comprehensive derivatives platform alongside spot and futures, giving clients a single venue to express directional views and manage risk.”

Options are now live on Kraken Pro, joining spot and futures in a single, portfolio-margined wallet. Eligible clients can access the new contracts today via RFQ, with European availability and further platform expansion planned for later in 2026.

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