⚠︎ Risk warning: leveraged derivatives on unregulated platforms — you can lose everything you deposit. Not investment advice.
Trading Perps Legally in the US
For most of crypto's history, an American who wanted perpetual futures had exactly one lawful answer: you can't. Offshore venues geo-blocked the US (the enforcement risk ran the other way — see Binance's $4.3B settlement), and no US-regulated exchange listed a perpetual. Between April 2025 and mid-2026 that changed completely. This guide maps the new landscape — who actually offers CFTC-regulated perps, how the structure protects you, and where the limits are.
The timeline that changed everything
- April 2025 — Bitnomial self-certifies the first US-listed perpetual future (BTC/USD) on its CFTC-registered exchange — initially institutional-facing.
- 29 May 2026 — Kalshi receives the first formal CFTC order approving a perpetual contract (BTCPERP), then rapidly self-certifies a dozen more — 13 crypto perps live today. The CFTC's own release cautions that "the perpetual contract design may not be suitable for all asset classes."
- 2025–26 — Coinbase offers US retail "nano" perpetual-style futures (5-year contracts with perp mechanics) through its regulated FCM, and in May 2026 was cleared to route US clients to global perps markets — institutions first.
- 2026 — Kraken launches Kraken Derivatives US: true perpetuals on nine assets, via the NinjaTrader FCM it acquired, listed on… Bitnomial, which Kraken's parent also bought. The 2025 pioneer now powers the 2026 product.
The three-letter structure that protects you
Every US-regulated perp involves three regulated roles, usually three entities: a DCM (Designated Contract Market — the exchange that lists the contract), a DCO (the clearinghouse that stands between buyers and sellers), and an FCM (Futures Commission Merchant — the broker holding your margin, segregated from house funds by CFTC rules). This is the same architecture that has governed US futures for decades. It's also why onboarding feels heavier than offshore: SSN, US ID, sometimes manual verification. The structure is the product.
The trade-offs are consistent across venues: modest leverage (single digits, vs 50–125x offshore), thinner market lists (9–13 assets vs hundreds), and US-persons-only access — these products are as unavailable to Europeans as EU-MiFID venues are to Americans. One genuine US-only perk: at Kalshi, margin held at the clearinghouse earns interest.
Who offers what, today
- Kalshi Perpetuals — 13 crypto perps, 8h funding, isolated interest-earning margin, low asset-dependent leverage. The deepest retail-first offering.
- Kraken Derivatives US — true perps on 9 assets on the Bitnomial DCM, 8h funding.
- Coinbase (CFM) — nano perpetual-style 5-year futures on the majors, up to 10x intraday.
- Watch list: Cboe's "continuous futures" (10-year dated, not true perps — reportedly considering conversion), and Polymarket's pending FCM application, which could eventually bring a regulated leveraged product to its US platform — its current Perps product is offshore, unregulated, and geoblocked for Americans.
What stays true everywhere
Regulation changes who holds your money and how products may be sold — not what leverage does to a losing position. The instrument guide applies unchanged. Offshore venues remain off-limits to US persons by those venues' own terms (and enforcement history), and we don't publish workarounds — a block is an answer. Taxes are real and jurisdiction-specific; ask a professional, not a website. EEA reader instead? Your map is over here.