Kraken Launches USD-Settled BTC, ETH Options
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- Kraken launched European-style, USD-settled bitcoin and ether options on Kraken Pro via request-for-quote, initially available to international clients outside Europe, North America, and Australia.
- Alexia Theodorou, Kraken's director of derivatives, said the crypto options gap is a "design" problem rather than a demand problem — existing platforms cater to institutions and market makers while retail gravitated to perpetual futures.
- Kraken's options contracts integrate into the same unified account used for spot and futures, with portfolio margin enabled by default and collateral accepted in 30+ currencies.
- The crypto options market remains a small corner of derivatives trading dominated by Deribit, CME Group, and Binance, even though derivatives as a whole account for the vast majority of crypto trading volume.
- Kraken plans a public order book to improve price discovery, additional assets, and a European expansion — Theodorou noted Kraken already holds the regulatory permissions needed to offer crypto derivatives in the region.
Why it matters: Retail traders were previously funneled into perpetual futures because crypto options were built for institutions. Kraken's unified account with portfolio margin and 30+ collateral currencies is a concrete usability bet against incumbents — but the RFQ-only start means Kraken still has to build the order book and liquidity that Deribit, CME, and Binance already own before its market-expansion thesis can be tested.
